Family history questionnaires designed for clinical use: a systematic review.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The family medical history is an important risk factor for several common chronic diseases but challenges remain in efficiently identifying individuals at increased risk. Family history questionnaires (FHQs) may have an important role in primary care as a screening tool to support tailored disease prevention. AIMS: To systematically review studies reporting on the use and outcomes of FHQs in a clinical setting. METHODS: Studies were identified through electronic searches of Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychInfo, and Google Scholar until December 2007. Due to the heterogeneity of the included papers, formal synthesis was not possible. We therefore developed a taxonomy based on the pr..