Kabarity et al. (1981) examined a 13 year old male within an Arabic family with 13 individuals affected with heritable "uncomplicated" childhood deafness at the Genetic Counseling Centre in Kuwait University. Pedigree analysis revealed 9 relatives (4 males and 5 females), all affected likewise, and an affected boy and girl who passed away from unrelated reasons. All cases were offspring from first cousin marriages, which comprised 79.5% of the unions in this family. Additional studies showed that the family migrated to Kuwait from Al-Sawiah village near Nablus city (Palestine) in 1954 where consanguineous marriage is fairly widespread for cultural and social reasons.

Al-Kandari and Alshuaib (2007) studied 200 normal and 15 high-risk neonates in Kuwait to detect permanent hearing loss. Different incidence rates of permanent hearing loss were uncovered in the two groups. Only 1% of the neonates in the normal group had profound sensorineural hearing loss, while another 1% had moderate sensorineural hearing loss. However, in the high-risk group, as much as 27% and 20% of the neonates had severe and moderate sensorineural hearing loss, respectively. Al-Kandari and Alshuaib (2007) recommended nationwide newborn hearing screening programs in Kuwait and other neighboring countries for early detection of permanent hearing loss.