Skip to content
2000
image of Association Between Parental Consanguinity and the Risk of Having a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Introduction

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition with increasing global prevalence, influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Parental consanguinity, common in many regions, has been suggested as a potential genetic risk factor for ASD, although existing studies have reported conflicting results. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between parental consanguinity and autism spectrum disorders.

Method

Four electronic databases (PubMed/Medline, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Web of Science) were searched from their inception up to November 25, 2023, without any time or language restrictions. Ultimately, 12 studies were included in the analysis, encompassing a total of 6,592 participants.

Results

A significant association between parental consanguinity and ASD risk was observed in adjusted analyses (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.47, I2 = 48.8).

Discussion

Given that consanguineous marriages are culturally common in the studied populations, public awareness alone is insufficient. Effective strategies should include accessible genetic counseling and culturally tailored education to reduce ASD risk and support informed reproductive choices.

Conclusion

Our study found a significant positive link between ASD and parental consanguinity.

© 2026 Bentham Science Publishers
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/cprr/10.2174/0126660822395901251024053711
2026-01-22
2026-02-04

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/cprr/10.2174/0126660822395901251024053711
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Moore G.S. Kneitel A.W. Walker C.K. Gilbert W.M. Xing G. Autism risk in small- and large-for-gestational-age infants. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2012 206 4 314.e1 314.e9 10.1016/j.ajog.2012.01.044
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Fombonne E. Epidemiological surveys of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders: An update. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2003 33 4 365 382 10.1023/A:1025054610557 12959416
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Zeidan J. Fombonne E. Scorah J. Global prevalence of autism: A systematic review update. Autism Res. 2022 15 5 778 790 10.1002/aur.2696 35238171
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Samadi S.A. Screening for autism in Iranian Preschoolers: Contrasting M-CHAT and a scale developed in Iran. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2015 45 9 2908 2916 10.1007/s10803‑015‑2454‑1
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Buchmayer S. Johansson S. Johansson A. Hultman C.M. Sparén P. Cnattingius S. Can association between preterm birth and autism be explained by maternal or neonatal morbidity? Pediatrics 2009 124 5 e817 e825 10.1542/peds.2008‑3582 19841112
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Chaste P. Leboyer M. Autism risk factors: Genes, environment, and gene-environment interactions. Dialogues Clin. Neurosci. 2012 14 3 281 292 10.31887/DCNS.2012.14.3/pchaste 23226953
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Fombonne E. Editorial: The rising prevalence of autism. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 2018 59 7 717 720 10.1111/jcpp.12941 29924395
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Kim Y.S. Leventhal B.L. Koh Y.J. Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in a total population sample. Am. J. Psychiatry 2011 168 9 904 912 10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.10101532 21558103
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Alshaban F. Aldosari M. Al-Shammari H. Prevalence and correlates of autism spectrum disorder in Qatar: A national study. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 2019 60 12 1254 1268 10.1111/jcpp.13066 31069792
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Bitar T. Gerges P. Kassab M.C. Factors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A case-control study in the Lebanese population. Epidemiol. Biostat. Public Health 2022 17 1 10.2427/13218
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Guisso D.R. Saadeh F.S. Saab D. Association of autism with maternal infections, perinatal and other risk factors: A case-control study. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2018 48 6 2010 2021 10.1007/s10803‑017‑3449‑x 29332178
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Mamidala M.P. Kalikiri M.K. Praveen Kumar P.T.V. Rajesh N. Vallamkonda O.R. Rajesh V. Consanguinity in India and its association with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res. 2015 8 2 224 228 10.1002/aur.1431 25428403
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Oommen A. AlOmar R.S. Osman A.A. Aljofi H.E. Role of environmental factors in autism spectrum disorders in Saudi children aged 3-10 years in the Northern and Eastern regions of Saudi Arabia. Neurosciences 2018 23 4 286 291 10.17712/nsj.2018.4.20180170 30351285
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Shakibaee F. Hateli B. Examining the frequency of risk factors related to autism in the clients of autism center in Isfahan City in 2019. Res Behav Sci 2023 21 1 190 199 10.48305/.21.1.190
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Siong K.H. Au Yeung S.K.C. Leung T.Y. Parental consanguinity in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Med. J. 2019 25 3 192 200 10.12809/hkmj187783 31178441
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Feinberg J.I. Bakulski K.M. Jaffe A.E. Paternal sperm DNA methylation associated with early signs of autism risk in an autism-enriched cohort. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2015 44 4 1199 1210 10.1093/ije/dyv028 25878217
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Bölte S, Girdler S, Marschik PB. The contribution of environmental exposure to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 2019 76 7 1275 1297 10.1007/s00018‑018‑2988‑4 30570672
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Ornoy A. Weinstein-Fudim L. Ergaz Z. Prenatal factors associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Reprod. Toxicol. 2015 56 155 169 10.1016/j.reprotox.2015.05.007 26021712
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Jenabi E. Karami M. Khazaei S. Bashirian S. The association between preeclampsia and autism spectrum disorders among children: A meta-analysis. Korean J. Pediatr. 2019 62 4 126 130 10.3345/kjp.2018.07010 30590001
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Faassen E. Antoniou M. Beekman-Lukassen W. A collaborative evaluation of LC-MS/MS based methods for BMAA analysis: Soluble bound BMAA found to be an important fraction. Mar. Drugs 2016 14 3 45 10.3390/md14030045 26938542
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Roullet F.I. Lai J.K.Y. Foster J.A. In utero exposure to valproic acid and autism — A current review of clinical and animal studies. Neurotoxicol. Teratol. 2013 36 47 56 10.1016/j.ntt.2013.01.004 23395807
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Dickerson A.S. Rahbar M.H. Han I. Autism spectrum disorder prevalence and proximity to industrial facilities releasing arsenic, lead or mercury. Sci. Total Environ. 2015 536 245 251 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.024 26218563
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Hashemi H. Bahrami A. Ghasisin L. Salehi M. Hasanzadeh A. Comparative study of developmental events in autistic children and normal children. J Res Rehabil Sci 2012 7 5 10.22122/jrrs.v7i5.435
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Jenabi E. Bashirian S. Khazaei S. Association between neonatal jaundice and autism spectrum disorders among children: A meta-analysis. Clin Exp Pediatr 2020 63 1 8 13 10.3345/kjp.2019.00815 31999913
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Al-Mamari W. Idris A.B. Al-Thihli K. Applying whole exome sequencing in a consanguineous population with autism spectrum disorder. Int. J. Dev. Disabil. 2023 69 2 190 200 10.1080/20473869.2021.1937000 37025335
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Bittles A.H. Empirical estimates of the global prevalence of consanguineous marriage in contemporary societies. Morrison Institute for Population and Resource Studies, Stanford University 1998
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Hamamy H. Consanguineous marriages. J. Community Genet. 2012 3 3 185 192 10.1007/s12687‑011‑0072‑y 22109912
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Ben-Omran T. Al Ghanim K. Yavarna T. Effects of consanguinity in a cohort of subjects with certain genetic disorders in Qatar. Mol. Genet. Genomic Med. 2020 8 1 e1051 10.1002/mgg3.1051 31793205
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Yu T.W. Chahrour M.H. Coulter M.E. Using whole-exome sequencing to identify inherited causes of autism. Neuron 2013 77 2 259 273 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.11.002 23352163
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Mohammadian-Khoshnoud M. Omidi T. Shirmohammadi-Khorram N. Poorolajal J. Autism spectrum disorder and associated risk factors: A matched case-control study. Int. J. Epidemiol. Res. 2019 6 1 14 19 10.15171/ijer.2019.03
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Alshaban F.A. Aldosari M. Ghazal I. Consanguinity as a risk factor for autism. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2025 55 6 1945 1952 10.1007/s10803‑023‑06137‑w 37751099
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Eapen V. Mabrouk A.A. Zoubeidi T. Yunis F. Prevalence of pervasive developmental disorders in preschool children in the UAE. J. Trop. Pediatr. 2007 53 3 202 205 10.1093/tropej/fml091 17244665
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Page M.J. Moher D. Bossuyt P.M. PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ 2021 372 160 10.1136/bmj.n160 33781993
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Higgins J.P.T. Thompson S.G. Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta‐analysis. Stat. Med. 2002 21 11 1539 1558 10.1002/sim.1186 12111919
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Egger M. Smith G.D. Schneider M. Minder C. Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. BMJ 1997 315 7109 629 634 10.1136/bmj.315.7109.629 9310563
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Begg C.B. Mazumdar M. Operating characteristics of a rank correlation test for publication bias. Biometrics 1994 50 4 1088 1101 10.2307/2533446 7786990
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Patsopoulos N.A. Evangelou E. Ioannidis J.P.A. Sensitivity of between-study heterogeneity in meta-analysis: Proposed metrics and empirical evaluation. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2008 37 5 1148 1157 10.1093/ije/dyn065 18424475
    [Google Scholar]
  38. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) for assessing the quality of non-randomized studies in metaanalysis. 2025 Available from: http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epidemiology/oxford.asp
  39. Balachandar V. Bharathi G. Jayaramayya K. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-a case-control study to investigate the prenatal, perinatal and neonatal factors in Indian Population. Brain Disorders 2021 4 100024 10.1016/j.dscb.2021.100024
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Geetha B. Sukumar C. Dhivyadeepa E. Reddy J.K. Balachandar V. Autism in India: A case–control study to understand the association between socio-economic and environmental risk factors. Acta Neurol. Belg. 2019 119 3 393 401 10.1007/s13760‑018‑01057‑4 30554347
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Adamjee Burhani H. Hussain S. Lakshmanan J. Albanna A. Perinatal risk factors in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in Dubai: A case-control study. Dubai Med J 2023 6 3 155 162 10.1159/000530542
    [Google Scholar]
  42. El S.M. Awadalla H. Mohamed R. Zaki O. Mohamed O. Study of some environmental and genetic determinants of autism in Egyptian children. Int J Psychol Counsell 2011 3 8 130 136
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Hamadé A. Salameh P. Medlej-Hashim M. Hajj-Moussa E. Saadallah-Zeidan N. Rizk F. Autism in children and correlates in Lebanon: A pilot case-control study. J. Res. Health Sci. 2013 13 2 119 124 24077467
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Sasanfar R. Haddad S.A. Tolouei A. Ghadami M. Yu D. Santangelo S.L. Paternal age increases the risk for autism in an Iranian population sample. Molecular Autism 2010 1 1 2 10.1186/2040‑2392‑1‑2
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Akrami S.M. Consanguineous marriage; genetic counseling, culture and religious aspects. Iran. J. Pediatr. 2006 16 3 359 365
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Neggers Y.H. Increasing prevalence, changes in diagnostic criteria, and nutritional risk factors for autism spectrum disorders. ISRN Nutr. 2014 2014 1 14 10.1155/2014/514026 24967269
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Boccaccio F.M. Platania G.A. Guerrera C.S. Autism spectrum disorder: Recommended psychodiagnostic tools for early diagnosis. Health Psychol. Res. 2023 11 77357 10.52965/001c.77357 37670796
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Tadmouri G.O. Nair P. Obeid T. Al Ali M.T. Al Khaja N. Hamamy H.A. Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs. Reprod. Health 2009 6 1 17 10.1186/1742‑4755‑6‑17 19811666
    [Google Scholar]
  49. El Goundali K. Chebabe M. Zahra Laamiri F. Hilali A. The determinants of consanguineous marriages among the Arab population: A systematic review. Iran. J. Public Health 2022 51 2 253 265 10.18502/ijph.v51i2.8679 35866117
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Bittles A.H. A community genetics perspective on consanguineous marriage. Community Genet. 2008 11 6 324 330 10.1159/000133304 18690000
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Abbasi-Shavazi M.J. Sadeghi R. Ethnicity and family patterns in Iran. Woman Devel Politics 2005 3 1 25 47
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Hosseini-Chavoshi M. Abbasi-Shavazi M.J. Bittles A.H. Consanguineous marriage, reproductive behaviour and postnatal mortality in contemporary Iran. Hum. Hered. 2014 77 1-4 16 25 10.1159/000358403
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Joseph N. Pavan K.K. Ganapathi K. Apoorva P. Sharma P. Jhamb J.A. Health awareness and consequences of consanguineous marriages: A community-based study. J. Prim. Care Community Health 2015 6 2 121 127 10.1177/2150131914557496 25389221
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/cprr/10.2174/0126660822395901251024053711
Loading
Association Between Parental Consanguinity and the Risk of Having a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Bentham Science Publishers ; https://doi.org/10.2174/0126660822395901251024053711
/content/journals/cprr/10.2174/0126660822395901251024053711
/content/journals/cprr/10.2174/0126660822395901251024053711
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Supplements

PRISMA Checklist is available on the publisher's website along with the published article.

file format download Download

  • Article Type:     Research Article
Keywords: ASD risk ; systematic review ; autism spectrum disorders ; meta-analysis ; child ; Consanguinity

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test