Abstract:

Background: Consanguineous marriages occur in most of populations, with different percentages among all marriages. The consanguinity rates in the Middle East, North Africa, Southwest Asia, and South India range between 20-50% or more of all marriages.(3) Objective: To assess the prevalence of consanguineous marriage among family members of medical students', knowledge, and attitude of students towards consanguineous marriages. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Egypt with a sample size 750 students. Results: The prevalence of consanguineous parents was 12%. The prevalence of consanguineous marriage among the married sisters or brothers of the participants was 25%. Most of the participants were unmarried females and Muslims (99.2% and 98.10%, respectively). A significantly higher knowledge score was present among urban females. Married participants have significantly positive attitude compared to non-married ones. Most of the participants (82%) prefer offering information to couples about consanguineous before marriage and they preferred to have the information from: clinical geneticist, followed by mass media, then gynecologist, or general practitioner. Conclusions: The prevalence of consanguineous marriage is high. The level of knowledge is satisfactory but the attitude for those accepting consanguineous marriage still approximate to half of the participants. Premarital health education programs are needed to improve the youth knowledge level on consanguineous marriages, better by physicians in the medical health centers or through mass media.