Prevalence and factors contributing to consanguineous marriages in Morocco.

Background: Consanguinity, the tradition of marrying within ancestral kinship, remains common in many Arab and Middle Eastern countries, despite its well-known health risks.

Aim: To explore the prevalence of consanguineous marriage in Settat, Morocco, and the contributing factors.

Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study collected data on consanguineous marriage from 453 married Moroccan women aged ≥18 years, using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire, and analysed the data using SPSS version 26.

Results: We found a consanguineous marriage rate of 26.7% (average consanguinity coefficient 0.0145871) among the respondents, with mostly (69.4%) first cousin marriages. Consanguinity was mostly influenced by parental consanguinity, traditional marriage arrangement, age at time of marriage, education level, rural vs urban residence, and socioeconomic status.

Conclusion: Our findings show that consanguinity is still prevalent in Morocco due to a combination of reasons. Targeted interventions should be implemented to increase awareness and knowledge about the health risks of consanguinity and reduce its prevalence among the population.