3.13 Family Health History

Many diseases have a genetic component. It is important to understand the risk and likelihood of a patient developing illnesses based on their family health. Ask about the health status, age, and, if applicable, cause of death of immediate blood relatives (parents, grandparents, and siblings). Example of some questions to ask include the following:

• Tell me about the health of your blood relatives. Does anyone have diseases like cancer, heart problems, or respiratory problems?
• Have any of your blood relatives died? If so, do you know the cause of death? At what age did they die?

More details can be found at Medline Plus’s guide to family health histories.

Attribution

This chapter contains material taken from Nursing Skills – 2e by Chippewa Valley Technical College and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.