Surveying the incidence of congenital anomalies

Handicapped subjects have special social and clinical needs that should be observed. The present study was designed to survey the incidence of congenital anomalies in a rural population aged 5- 19 years in Rafsanjan.

In a descriptive study, we included 1356 subjects who were randomly selected through rural population of Rafsanjan. The incidence of congenital anomaly was calculated for each age group. Parametric and non-parametric tests were applied for data analysis.

Totally, 87 had at least one congenital anomaly that makes an overall prevalence of 63.2 per 1000 person-year. Although the incidence of congenital anomalies had dropped significantly during 1987- 1988, it was increased during 1999-2001. The following factors may be associated with the increased incidence of congenital anomalies: maternal smoking, X-ray, and residing near pistachio gardens.

The incidence of congenital anomalies is quite high in the region. Thus, the responsible authorities should pay further attention to the problem and attempt to recognize the possible predisposing factors besides managing the rehabilitation aspects of the sufferers.