1 Department of Biology, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
Corresponding author details:
Farhana s. Taha Pasha
Department of Biology
University of Tabuk
Tabuk,Saudi Arabia
Copyright: © 2020 Amir M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
In the present study, the knowledge regarding mental retardation and mental disorders
have been observed by descriptive epidemiology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was carried.
A survey was carried out by means of a questionnaire in Tabuk area. It was found that the
knowledge of people was average concerning the types, the prevalence and inheritance of
genetic disorders.The high rate of consanguinity in Saudi Arabia has long been exploited
to accelerate the annotation of recessive Mendelian genes. Estimated recurrence risk of
genetic disorders is >1%.The need for genetic counseling is underscored.A condensed
public education program in addition to education of all health care providers who can play
an essential role will be highly cost effective in reducing the burden in genetic disorders in
the KSA.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a large landmass occupying almost four fifth of
Arabian landscape. In Saudi Arabia genetic disorders have been at high frequency due to
many reasons including marriages in first cousins and close genetically ally relatives. The
high prevalence has been recorded by many researchers from within and outside Saudi
Arabia. This high incidence rate has made premarital screening for genetic abnormalities
compulsory in the kingdom [1]. Many counseling centers have also been opened to
discourage marriages which might result in an increase of genetic disorders in the coming
generations [2]. The most occurring incidences are that of autosomal recessive genetic
disorders which are more prevalent here then equated to other populations [3].The desert
environment adds to the health issues with asthma and respiratory infections at the highest
prevalence followed by diabetes, obesity etc. The prime reason for all the major genetic
disorders remains a consanguinity marriage [4] which contributes about 50% of the total
cause of genetic disorders [5].
Relevant literatures were retrieved from different journals and web pages to highlight
the definition, importance and types of genetic disorders. A questionnaire was designed
to reflect the prevalence of genetic disorders concerning the following groups: Mental
Retardation & Mental Disorders. Analysis was done using SPSS.
As evident from the result of the questioner the knowledge
related to mental retardation and mental disorder in the kingdom is
low (Figures 1,2).
Figure 1: Knowledge of mental retardation prevalence
Figure 2: Spread of mental disorders
There are about 35 million people in Saudi Arabia comparison
of Indigenous and expat (∼30%) community from all over the globe.
The high prevalence of consanguinity marriages in Saudi Arabia has
always been demoralized to speed up the annotation of hierarchy/
genetic disorders. Estimated recurrence risk of genetic disorders is
> 1%. The need for genetic counseling is underscored. A condensed
public education program in addition to education of all health care
providers who can play an essential role will be highly cost effective
in reducing the burden in genetic disorders in the KSA.
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