Chronic disease prevention in general practice applying the family history

Abstract

BACKGROUND The family history has a potentially important role in general practice for risk prediction and tailored disease prevention for several common chronic diseases. OBJECTIVE This article discusses the potential role of the family history in general practice including current risk assessment guidelines and approaches to supporting family history taking. DISCUSSION Family history reflects shared genetic and environmental risks and can be used to identify individuals at increased risk of common chronic disease who may benefit from tailored preventive management. General practitioners need to develop skills in taking a full family history, creating a pedigree and using this to determine ..