0
Sign In  | Subscribe
16 March 2004, Vol 140, No. 6>
Summaries for Patients | 16 March 2004

The Accuracy of Adult Patients' Reports of Their Parents' Medical Histories FREE

[+] Article and Author Information

The summary below is from the full report titled “Accuracy of Offspring Reports of Parental Cardiovascular Disease History: The Framingham Offspring Study.” It is in the 16 March 2004 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine (volume 140, pages 434-440). The authors are J.M. Murabito, B.-H. Nam, R.B. D'Agostino Sr., D.M. Lloyd-Jones, C.J. O'Donnell, and P.W.F. Wilson.


Ann Intern Med. 2004;140(6):I-58. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-140-6-200403160-00004
Text Size: A A A

What is the problem and what is known about it so far?

When doctors estimate a patient's risk for heart disease, one of the factors they consider is whether the patient's parents had heart disease. This is one of the reasons that doctors routinely ask patients about family medical history. However, we do not know very much about the accuracy of patients' reports of family medical history.

Why did the researchers do this particular study?

To see how accurately people report their parents' medical histories related to heart disease.

Who was studied?

791 men and 837 women whose mothers and fathers had both participated in the Framingham Heart Study, which is a study of heart disease that began in 1948 and that has included many residents of Framingham, Massachusetts.

How was the study done?

The researchers asked people in the study about their own health. They also asked whether their mothers or their fathers ever had high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes mellitus, heart attack before age 55 years, or stroke before age 65 years or died of heart disease. The researchers checked the parents' medical records to see whether the study participants' reports of their parents' medical histories were accurate.

What did the researchers find?

Study participants were accurate when they reported that a parent had high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, or diabetes. Reports that a parent did not have diabetes, heart attack before age 55 years, or stroke before age 65 years were also accurate. However, participants were often wrong when they reported that a parent did not have high blood pressure or a high cholesterol level. In addition, reports that a parent had had a heart attack before age 55 years or a stroke before age 65 years were often wrong.

What were the limitations of the study?

It is possible that the results of this study of people in the Framingham Heart Study would not apply to other groups of people who were less aware of issues related to heart disease.

What are the implications of the study?

Doctors should be aware that patient reports of parents' medical history of heart disease may be inaccurate, especially when patients report that a parent had heart attack or stroke at an early age or that a parent did not have high blood pressure or a high cholesterol level.

Figures

Tables

References

Letters

NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Compression-Only CPR: Pushing the Science Forward
Cone
AAM 2010;304:1493-1495.
All you need to read in the other general jounals
BMJ 2010;341:c5893-c1494.

Comments

Submit a Comment
Submit a Comment

Summary for Patients

Clinical Slide Sets

Terms of Use

The In the Clinic® slide sets are owned and copyrighted by the American College of Physicians (ACP). All text, graphics, trademarks, and other intellectual property incorporated into the slide sets remain the sole and exclusive property of the ACP. The slide sets may be used only by the person who downloads or purchases them and only for the purpose of presenting them during not-for-profit educational activities. Users may incorporate the entire slide set or selected individual slides into their own teaching presentations but may not alter the content of the slides in any way or remove the ACP copyright notice. Users may make print copies for use as hand-outs for the audience the user is personally addressing but may not otherwise reproduce or distribute the slides by any means or media, including but not limited to sending them as e-mail attachments, posting them on Internet or Intranet sites, publishing them in meeting proceedings, or making them available for sale or distribution in any unauthorized form, without the express written permission of the ACP. Unauthorized use of the In the Clinic slide sets will constitute copyright infringement.

Toolkit

Buy This Article

to gain full access to the content and tools.

Want to Subscribe?

Learn more about subscription options

Register Now for a free account
Advertisement

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.

Topic Collections
PubMed Articles
Foreign body in vagina: an uncommon cause of vaginitis in children.
Annals of medical and health sciences research Issue date: 2013 Jan
Prekallikrein Deficiency.
Journal of pediatric oncology nursing : official journal of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses Issue date: 2013 Apr 29

Annals of Internal Medicine

Other Resources

Copyright © 2013 The American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.
Print ISSN: 0003-4819 | Online ISSN: 1539-3704

Buy This Article

to gain full access to the content and tools.

Want to Subscribe?

Learn more about subscription options

Register Now for a free account
Forgot your password?
Enter your username and email address. We'll send you a reminder to the email address on record.
(Required)
(Required)