TY - JOUR
T1 - Factors affecting frequency of communication about family health history with family members and doctors in a medically underserved population
AU - Kaphingst, Kimberly A.
AU - Goodman, Melody
AU - Pandya, Chintan
AU - Garg, Priyanka
AU - Stafford, Jewel
AU - Lachance, Christina
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Human Genome Research Institute , National Institutes of Health . We would like to thank the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, the Health Center Administrators, the data collectors, and the patients who agreed to participate in this study.
Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - Objective: Family history contributes to risk for many common chronic diseases. Little research has investigated patient factors affecting communication of this information. Methods: 1061 adult community health center patients were surveyed. We examined factors related to frequency of discussions about family health history (FHH) with family members and doctors. Results: Patients who talked frequently with family members about FHH were more likely to report a family history of cancer (p=.012) and heart disease (p<.001), seek health information frequently in newspapers (p<.001) and in general (p<.001), and be female (p<.001). Patients who talked frequently with doctors about FHH were more likely to report a family history of heart disease (p=.011), meet physical activity recommendations (p=.022), seek health information frequently in newspapers (p<.001) and in general (p<.001), be female (p<.001), and not have experienced racial discrimination in healthcare (p<.001). Conclusion: Patients with a family history of some diseases, those not meeting physical activity recommendations, and those who do not frequently seek health information may not have ongoing FHH discussions. Practice implications: Interventions are needed to encourage providers to update patients' family histories systematically and assist patients in initiating FHH conversations in order to use this information for disease prevention and control.
AB - Objective: Family history contributes to risk for many common chronic diseases. Little research has investigated patient factors affecting communication of this information. Methods: 1061 adult community health center patients were surveyed. We examined factors related to frequency of discussions about family health history (FHH) with family members and doctors. Results: Patients who talked frequently with family members about FHH were more likely to report a family history of cancer (p=.012) and heart disease (p<.001), seek health information frequently in newspapers (p<.001) and in general (p<.001), and be female (p<.001). Patients who talked frequently with doctors about FHH were more likely to report a family history of heart disease (p=.011), meet physical activity recommendations (p=.022), seek health information frequently in newspapers (p<.001) and in general (p<.001), be female (p<.001), and not have experienced racial discrimination in healthcare (p<.001). Conclusion: Patients with a family history of some diseases, those not meeting physical activity recommendations, and those who do not frequently seek health information may not have ongoing FHH discussions. Practice implications: Interventions are needed to encourage providers to update patients' family histories systematically and assist patients in initiating FHH conversations in order to use this information for disease prevention and control.
KW - Family history
KW - Health information seeking
KW - Provider-patient communication
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pec.2011.11.013
DO - 10.1016/j.pec.2011.11.013
M3 - Article
C2 - 22197261
AN - SCOPUS:84864331157
SN - 0738-3991
VL - 88
SP - 291
EP - 297
JO - Patient Education and Counseling
JF - Patient Education and Counseling
IS - 2
ER -