Consanguinity and G6Pd Deficiency in Omani Children- A Community Based Cross-Sectional Study

G6PD deficiency is passed along in genes from one or both parents to a child. The gene responsible for this deficiency is on the X chromosome. The aim of this paper is to assess and evaluate the relationship between consanguinity and G6PD deficiency in the Omani population using a group of 100 known Pediatric G6PD deficient patients from a state hospital. Results and analysis are carried out using the SPSS software. The paper determines the number of patients under the age of 15, tested G6PD deficient since Jan 2013, who have parents of consanguineous marriage, determine the relationship of the parents and classify as being first cousin, second cousin or unrelated, evaluate using statistical tools if there exists a relationship between consanguinity status and occurrence of G6PD deficiency in the children and assess evaluation to prove whether or not consanguinity can be considered a risk factor in G6PD deficiency occurrence in children.

Theoretically, consanguineous marriages have a relatively higher risk of producing offspring with genetic damage than that of the general population. Accordingly, the occurrence of genetic diseases should be higher in consanguineous marriages. In a country like Oman with a high consanguinity rate, it is tempting to blame the consanguinity as one of the causes of such a condition, without proof of causation. This study was an attempt to clarify the role of consanguinity as a risk factor in the occurrence of genetic diseases. The results of this study shows that even though the risk of consanguinity may not be uniform, based on the restrictions of this particular study, it can be accepted that it still poses as a risk factor in the transmission, and is a fact that should be taken into consideration during genetic counseling.