title: Family health history reporting is sensitive to small changes in wording.
abstract: Family health history is often collected through single-item queries that ask patients whether their family members are affected by certain conditions. The specific wording of these queries may influence what individuals report.
  
  
  
  Parents of Boston Children's Hospital patients were invited to participate in a Web-based survey about the return of individual genomic research results regarding their children. Participants reported whether 11 types of medical conditions affected them or their family. Randomization determined whether participants were specifically instructed to consider their extended family.
  
  
  
  Family health history was reported by 2,901 participants. Those asked to consider their extended family were more likely to report a positive family history for 8 of 11 medical conditions. The largest differences were observed for cancer (65.1 vs. 45.7%; P < 0.001), cardiovascular conditions (72.5 vs. 56.0%; P < 0.001), and endocrine/hormonal conditions (50.9 vs. 36.7%; P < 0.001).
  
  
  
  Small alterations to the way family health history queries are worded can substantially change patient responses. Clinicians and researchers need to be sensitive about patients' tendencies to omit extended family from health history reporting unless specifically asked to consider them.Genet Med 18 12, 1308-1311.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Liam S
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8944-4278
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Conway-Pearson
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Kurt D
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4068-776X
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.affiliation: Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Noelle L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Huntington
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Children's Hospital Informatics Program at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Elissa R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Weitzman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Center for Patient Safety and Quality Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Sonja I
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7953-6398
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Ziniel
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Phoebe
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7927-2348
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bacon
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Cara N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Cacioppo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Partners Personalized Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Ingrid A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Holm
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D010290:Parents