Consanguineous Marriage among Egyptian Youth: Secondary Analysis of Survey of Young People in Egypt, 2014

Background: Although the frequency of consanguineous marriage is generally declining, most Middle Eastern Arab countries including Egypt still have a custom of preferring consanguineous marriage particularly among first cousins. The objectives of the study were to explore the frequency and determinants of consanguinity among youth population in Egypt using secondary analysis of data from survey of young people in Egypt, 2014 (SYPE, 2014) were used in this study. The results of this study show that consanguineous marriage among youth (13 – 35 years) in Egypt is 27.4%. However the frequency varies by region. It is highest in rural Upper Egypt (43.6%) and lowest in urban Lower Egypt (13.2%). Also it is higher in rural (29.3%) than urban (23.9%) areas. Consanguineous marriage is associated with younger age at marriage, low educational level, increased number of brothers and sisters, higher birth order, extended family and lower wealth quintile. This means that the socio-economic determinants are still working in maintaining this high rate of consanguinity even among youth population. It was recommended that public health education programs on the negative outcome of consanguineous marriages need to be established and efforts should be made to lower the associated social factors.