Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-f46jp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-07T08:43:50.855Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Decline in the prevalence of childhood deafness in the Jewish population of Jerusalem: ethnic and genetic aspects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

M. Feinmesser ,
L. Tell  and
H. Levi
M. Feinmesser*
Affiliation:
Jerusalem, Israel
L. Tell
Affiliation:
Jerusalem, Israel
H. Levi
Affiliation:
Jerusalem, Israel
*
Professor M. Feinmesser, Department of Otolaryngology, Hadassah University Hospital, Kiryat Hadassah, PO Box 12000, 91120 Jerusalem, Israel
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A longitudinal study was performed on 147 Jewish children with bilaterally sensorineural hearing loss of moderately severe to profound degree, born in Jerusalem during the eighteen years 1968–85.

The prevalence rate of these children declined during the years 1977–85, and at the same time the rate of consanguinity of their parents decreased; this decline was more evident in the genetic group among children with non-Ashkenazi ethnic origin. No such decline was found among the Ashkenazi children and no consanguinity among parents of these children was recorded.

Our study supports the assumption that restriction of consanguineous matings may affect the prevalence of genetic deafness in children in a well-defined population. We have tried to remain unbiased and concede certain shortcomings in our present study.

Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 104 , Issue 9 , September 1990 , pp. 675 - 677
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Feinmesser, M., Bauberger-Tell, L., Markus, F. (1966) Consanguinity among parents of deaf chldren in the Jewish population in Israel. Journal of Laryngology and Otology, 80: 1253–1256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinmesser, M., Tell, L., Levi, H. (1986) Etiology of childhood deafness with reference to the group of unknown cause. Audiology, 25: 65–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinmesser, M., Tell, L., Levi, H. (1989) Consanguinity among parents of hearing-impaired children in relation to ethnic groups in the Jewish population of Jerusalem. Audiology, 28: 268–271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fraser, G. R. (1987) The genetics of deafness. In Scott-Brown's Otolaryngology. vol. 6. Pediatric Otolaryngology (Evans, J. N. G. and Kerr, A. G., eds.) Fifth edition, Butterworths, London, p. 26.Google Scholar
Goldschmidt, E., Ronen, A., Ronen, I. (1960) Changing marriage systems in the Jewish communities of Israel. Annals of Human Genetics, 24: 191–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tell, L., Levi, H., Feinmesser, M. (1978) The Hadassah program for early diagnosis of hearing loss. In Early Diagnosis of Hearing Loss. (Gerber, S. E. and Mencher, G. T., eds.) pp. 323–336, Grune and Strutton, Inc., New York.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. S., Thompson, M. W. (1986) Genetics in Medicine, 4th edn., Saunders, Co. Philadelphia, p. 56.Google Scholar