Consanguinity between Parents and Risk of Epilepsy among Children in Northern Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders in childhood. There are various risk factors that could lead to epilepsy. However, a few studies have shown that there is a strong link between epilepsy and consanguinity. Further, population studies revealed an increased familial clustering of epilepsy among first degree and to a lesser extent second degree relative. Aim of the work: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of epilepsy among school children and adolescents (6-18 years) in Northern Saudi Arabia and consanguinity between parents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of students aged 6–18 years in all primary, preparatory, and secondary schools in Northern Saudi Arabia, KSA during the academic year 2016-2017. Parents of the studied cases were given a predesigned and pretested questionnaire to collect the relevant data on presence of physicians diagnosed epilepsy, consanguinity between parents and family history of epilepsy. Results: Consanguinity between parents was significantly associated with the development of epilepsy where 59.1% of epilepsy patients who participated in the current study had parents who were cousins and 13.6% were non-relatives of the same family and only 22.7% of cases had no relation between their parents (p=0.000). Family history of epilepsy was significantly associated with the development of it where 68.2% of epilepsy patients who participated in the current study had positive family history, while about half of them (31.8%) had negative family history (p=0.000). Conclusion: Consanguinity between parents was significantly associated with the development of epilepsy in Northern Saudi Arabia. Decision makers must regulate effective health education sessions to aware the public about consanguinity between parents as a significant risk factor of the epilepsy.