Background: Consanguinity is a traditional phenomenon that is
common in many communities worldwide. In Arab countries, its prevalence is
considered to be high, despite its decrease in some Arab societies. According
to the Arab society in Israel, the rates of consanguineous marriages (CMs) recently were found to be increasing in the last
decade. Generally, various socio-demographic factors
play an important role in determining the prevalence rates of consanguineous
marriages. Objective: The purpose of the current study is to determine
the prevalence rates of consanguineous marriages among the Arab society in
Israel, relating to various women’ssocio-demographic factors. The study explored the effect of wives’ age at marriage, their educational attainment,
their employment, and their income level on
consanguinity in this community. Method: The data were obtained from a
health national survey that was carried out during the year 2017, among the
Arab society in Israel. The subjects supplied the required information about
themselves through personal face-to-face interviews using a survey
questionnaire prepared specifically for this purpose. A detailed analysis was
conducted to determine statistical significance. Result: It was observed
that the prevalence rate of consanguineous marriages among the women from the
Arab society in Israel seems to be high (~42%). Furthermore, the prevalence
rates of CMs were found to be inversely proportional to the wife’s age at
marriage and their educational attainment. A significant difference could be
detected between the rates of CMs and non-CMs in relation to wife’s employment
factor and wife’s income level (i.e., 70% of the employed women had non-CMs and 65% of the high wife’s income level
had non-CMs). Conclusion: Our
findings demonstrated that women’s status played a vital role in the prevalence rates of CMs, thus, we recommend the
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