Journal article
Perceived familiarity with and importance of family health history among a medically underserved population
Journal of community genetics, Vol.3(4), pp.285-295
10/2012
DOI: 10.1007/s12687-012-0097-x
PMCID: PMC3461219
PMID: 22569765
Abstract
Inadequate knowledge of family health history (FHH) continues to be a major obstacle limiting its usefulness in public health and clinical practice; strategies to facilitate FHH dissemination are needed. Data (
N
= 1,334) were obtained through waiting-room surveys completed by a diverse sample of patients attending three community health centers. Perceptions about the importance of genetic information (
β
= 0.13,
p
< 0.001;
β
= 0.11,
p
< 0.001) and higher genetic self-efficacy (
β
= 0.14,
p
< 0.001;
β
= 0.23,
p
< 0.001) were significantly associated with higher levels of perceived familiarity with and importance of FHH, respectively. Furthermore, beliefs about genetic causation of illnesses (
β
= 0.12,
p
< 0.001) and a wider reach of health communication within one’s family (
β
= 0.15,
p
< 0.001) were associated with higher levels of perceived familiarity with one’s FHH. Participants in the oldest group (>50 years) reported higher familiarity than those in the youngest (18–25 years). Those with higher familiarity were significantly less likely to answer “don’t know” when reporting diabetes and heart disease diagnoses among immediate (OR = 0.35 and OR = 0.29, respectively) and extended (OR = 0.50 and OR = 0.46, respectively) family members. Having a wider health communication reach within a family may be beneficial in increasing familiarity with FHH; however, the reported levels of communication reach were limited among most participants. Women, older-generation family members, and those who believe in the importance of genetics in health or feel confident about using genetic information may be particularly important as targets of public health interventions to facilitate FHH dissemination within families.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Perceived familiarity with and importance of family health history among a medically underserved population
- Creators
- Sato Ashida - Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Memphis School of Public Health, 201 Robison Hall, Memphis, TN 38152 USAMelody S Goodman - Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USAJewel Stafford - Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USAChristina Lachance - Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892 USAKimberly A Kaphingst - Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of community genetics, Vol.3(4), pp.285-295
- DOI
- 10.1007/s12687-012-0097-x
- PMID
- 22569765
- PMCID
- PMC3461219
- NLM abbreviation
- J Community Genet
- ISSN
- 1868-310X
- eISSN
- 1868-6001
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag; Berlin/Heidelberg
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 10/2012
- Academic Unit
- Injury Prevention Research Center; Public Policy Center (Archive); Community and Behavioral Health
- Record Identifier
- 9984063112502771
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