SynthesisAnnals of family medicine
Lay understanding of familial risk of common chronic diseases: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research.
Synthesis in Annals of family medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
104 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 288 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perception of inherited risk in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- How do women who are informed that they are at increased risk of breast cancer appraise their risk? A systematic review of qualitative research.British journal of cancer · 2022Pooled it
- Health systems constraints and facilitators of human papillomavirus immunization programmes in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.Health policy and planning · 2020Pooled it
- Stakeholder views on secondary findings in whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing: a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies.Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics · 2017Pooled it
- Factors influencing the implementation of fall-prevention programmes: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative studies.Implementation science : IS · 2012Pooled it
- Thou shalt versus thou shalt not: a meta-synthesis of GPs' attitudes to clinical practice guidelines.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2007Pooled it
- Impact of family history assessment on communication with family members and health care providers: A report from the Family Healthware™ Impact Trial (FHITr).Preventive medicine · 2015Trial
- Cognitive and affective influences on perceived risk of ovarian cancer.Psycho-oncology · 2015Trial
- A pre-visit tailored website enhances counselees' realistic expectations and knowledge and fulfils information needs for breast cancer genetic counselling.Familial cancer · 2012Trial
- Family history and perceptions about risk and prevention for chronic diseases in primary care: a report from the family healthware impact trial.Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics · 2010Trial
- Realising the potential of the family history in risk assessment and primary prevention of coronary heart disease in primary care: ADDFAM study protocol.BMC health services research · 2009Trial
- Beyond the test: patient-reported concerns and worries regarding kidney conditions andFrontiers in nephrology · 2026Article
- Knowledge, attitudes and demand toward cardiovascular polygenic risk testing in clinical practice: cross-sectional survey of patients.European journal of human genetics : EJHG · 2025Article
- Chronic unilateral vestibular hypofunction: a qualitative study exploring the full spectrum of symptoms and impacts through the ICF framework.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Factors associated with diabetes knowledge, attitudes and practices among people aged 18 and over in the commune of Niakhene in Senegal.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Advancing the communication of genetic risk for cardiometabolic diseases: a critical interpretive synthesis.BMC medicine · 2023Article
- Personalized prediction for multiple chronic diseases by developing the multi-task Cox learning model.PLoS computational biology · 2023Article
- An exploration of knowledge, risk perceptions, and communication in a family with multiple genetic risks for Parkinson's disease.Journal of genetic counseling · 2023Article
- Attitudes Toward Glaucoma Genetic Risk Assessment in Unaffected Individuals.Translational vision science & technology · 2022Article
- Developing community-based health education strategies with family history: Assessing the association between community resident family history and interest in health education.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2021Article
44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeAlthough the family history is increasingly used for genetic risk assessment of common chronic diseases in primary care, evidence suggests that lay understanding about inheritance may conflict with medical models. This study systematically reviewed and synthesized the qualitative literature exploring understanding about familial risk held by persons with a family history of cancer, coronary artery disease, and diabetes mellitus.
methodsTwenty-two qualitative articles were found after a comprehensive literature search and were critically appraised; 11 were included. A meta-ethnographic approach was used to translate the studies across each other, synthesize the translation, and express the synthesis.
resultsA dynamic process emerged by which a personal sense of vulnerability included some features that mirror the medical factors used to assess risk, such as the number of affected relatives. Other features are more personal, such as experience of a relative's disease, sudden or premature death, perceived patterns of illness relating to gender or age at death, and comparisons between a person and an affected relative. The developing vulnerability is interpreted using personal mental models, including models of disease causation, inheritance, and fatalism. A person's sense of vulnerability affects how that person copes with, and attempts to control, any perceived familial risk.
conclusionsPersons with a family history of a common chronic disease develop a personal sense of vulnerability that is informed by the salience of their family history and interpreted within their personal models of disease causation and inheritance. Features that give meaning to familial risk may be perceived differently by patients and professionals. This review identifies key areas for health professionals to explore with patients that may improve the effectiveness of communication about disease risk and management.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.