Understanding the Link Between Consanguineous Marriage and Pathological and Non-pathological Short Stature: A Clinical Investigation

Authors

  • Marya Hameed National Institute of Child Health, Karachi, Pakistan.
  • Sumera Mahar National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan.
  • Fahad Hassan Sheikh National Institute of Child Health, Karachi, Pakistan.
  • Fatima Siddiqui National Institute of Child Health, Karachi, Pakistan.
  • Muhammad Khuzzaim Khan Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
  • Bushra Admani Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35845/abms.2024.1.284

Keywords:

Stunted growth; growth failure; nutrition; genetics; consanguinity

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the associations between consanguinity and clinical factors among patients with short stature and to determine whether consanguineous marriage is associated with an increased risk for dysplastic and storage disorders among patients with short stature.

Methods

 This study adopted a retrospective cohort design to investigate common features and potential causes of short stature, specifically focusing on skeletal survey findings. Using a convenience sample of 460 patients, 62% of parents reported consanguineous marriage. The participants were evaluated for clinical factors such as pathological short stature, head size abnormalities, and other related conditions. Data was collected from the medical records of a large tertiary care hospital. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26 software.

RESULTS

The median age at presentation was 3 years, with a slight skew towards older ages. Males comprised 62.4% of the participants. Notably, 43% of patients had normal short stature, meaning no underlying cause was identified. The remaining patients had pathological short stature caused by various conditions: Metabolic disorders (16.1%), Storage disorders (13.3%), and Dysplastic disorders (18.5%).

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that consanguineous marriage is associated with an increased risk for dysplastic and storage disorders. This highlights the need for public health policies and interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence of these conditions in communities where consanguineous marriage is common. Further research is needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms linking consanguineous marriage to health outcomes such as short stature and to develop effective interventions to mitigate the negative impacts of this cultural practice on health.

Author Biographies

Marya Hameed, National Institute of Child Health, Karachi, Pakistan.

Department of Radiology

Sumera Mahar, National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Department of Radiology

Fahad Hassan Sheikh, National Institute of Child Health, Karachi, Pakistan.

Department of Radiology

Fatima Siddiqui, National Institute of Child Health, Karachi, Pakistan.

Department of Radiology

Muhammad Khuzzaim Khan, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.

Department of Internal Medicine

Bushra Admani, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.

Department of Paediatrics

References

Patel R, Bajpai A. Evaluation of short stature in children and adolescents. Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 2021 Dec;88(12):1196-202.

Yadav S, Dabas A. Approach to short stature. The Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 2015 May;82:462-70.

Dahlgren J, Noordam C. Growth, endocrine features, and growth hormone treatment in Noonan syndrome. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2022 Apr 5;11(7):2034.

Jee YH, Baron J, Nilsson O. New developments in the genetic diagnosis of short stature. Current opinion in pediatrics. 2018 Aug 1;30(4):541-7.

Rakotomanana H, Gates GE, Hildebrand D, Stoecker BJ. Determinants of stunting in children under 5 years in Madagascar. Maternal & child nutrition. 2017 Oct;13(4):e12409.

Mansouritorghabeh H. Consanguineous marriage and rare bleeding disorders. Expert Review of Hematology. 2021 May 4;14(5):467-72.

Islam MM, Ababneh FM, Khan MH. Consanguineous marriage in Jordan: an update. Journal of biosocial science. 2018 Jul;50(4):573-8.

Bittles AH. Consanguineous marriage and childhood health. Developmental Medicine and child neurology. 2003 Aug;45(8):571-6.

Almazroua AM, Alsughayer L, Ababtain R, Al-Shawi Y, Hagr AA. The association between consanguineous marriage and offspring with congenital hearing loss. Annals of Saudi Medicine. 2020 Nov;40(6):456-61.

Desmond C, Casale DJPo. Catch-up growth in stunted children: Definitions and predictors. 2017;12(12):e0189135.

Bryant JP, Hernandez NE, Niazi TN. Macrocephaly in the primary care provider’s office. Pediatric Clinics. 2021 Aug 1;68(4):759-73.

Qi X, Tester RFJCnE. Fructose, galactose, and glucose–In health and disease. 2019;33:18-28.

Holick MF. The vitamin D deficiency pandemic: Approaches for diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders. 2017 Jun;18:153-65.

Millward DJ. Nutrition, infection, and stunting: the roles of deficiencies of individual nutrients and foods, and of inflammation, as determinants of reduced linear growth of children. Nutrition research reviews. 2017 Jun;30(1):50-72.

Temaj G, Nuhii N, Sayer JA. The impact of consanguinity on human health and disease with an emphasis on rare diseases. Journal of Rare Diseases. 2022 Dec 7;1(1):2.

Iqbal S, Zakar R, Fischer F, Zakar MZ. Consanguineous marriages and their association with women’s reproductive health and fertility behavior in Pakistan: Secondary data analysis from Demographic and Health Surveys, 1990–2018. BMC Women's Health. 2022 Apr 14;22(1):118.

Teeuw ME, Loukili G, Bartels EA, Ten Kate LP, Cornel MC, Henneman L. Consanguineous marriage and reproductive risk: attitudes and understanding of ethnic groups practicing consanguinity in Western society. European Journal of Human Genetics. 2014 Apr;22(4):452-7.

Van Buren F, Van Gordon W. Emirati women’s experiences of consanguineous marriage: a qualitative exploration of attitudes, health challenges, and coping styles. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. 2020 Aug;18(4):1113-27.

Downloads

Published

2024-06-21

How to Cite

1.
Hameed M, Mahar S, Sheikh FH, Siddiqui F, Khan MK, Admani B. Understanding the Link Between Consanguineous Marriage and Pathological and Non-pathological Short Stature: A Clinical Investigation. Adv Basic Med Sci [Internet]. 2024Jun.21 [cited 2024Dec.7];8(1):08-11. Available from: https://abms.kmu.edu.pk/index.php/abms/article/view/284