Effect of parental age, birth order and consanguinity on nondisjunction in the population of Kuwait

ABSTRACT

401 patients with numerical chromosomal aberrations were detected from 1980 to 1983 and studied to determine the effect of parental age, seasonal variation, birth order and consanguinity on nondisjunction. For purposes of comparison 403 phenotypically normal newborns were selected. The study showed a significant association between maternal age, paternal age and consanguinity with nondisjunction. No seasonal variation was detected. Application of the Mantel Haenszel chi square test revealed an intensified maternal age effect as paternal age advances. The significant association between consanguinity and nondisjunction in the present study may raise the possibility of a multifactorial mode of inheritance