ArticleAnnals of family medicine
The family contribution to health status: a population-level estimate.
Article 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 29 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- A phase II clinical trial of a dental health education program delivered by aboriginal health workers to prevent early childhood caries.BMC public health · 2012Trial
- Being active in Ghana: facilitators, barriers and preferences for being physically active in community settings among Ghanaian adults.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Prospective changes in primary care patients' family communication after skin cancer genetic test offer.PEC innovation · 2025Article
- Linked Lives: Dyadic Trajectories of Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Couples.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- The role of family health climate in physical activity and sedentary behaviour in primary care patients with diabetes - a cross-sectional study.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Informal and formal long-term care utilization and unmet needs in Europe: examining socioeconomic disparities and the role of social policies for older adults.International journal of health economics and management · 2025Article
- Beyond individual integration: Family systems, social support networks and living environment as health determinants among migrants in Germany.Journal of migration and health · 2025Article
- Impact of household decision makers' hesitancy to vaccinate children against COVID-19 on other household members: A family-based study in Taizhou, China.SSM - population health · 2023Article
- The role of the family in health promotion: a scoping review of models and mechanisms.Health promotion international · 2022Article
- Article
- What Factors Determine the Patients' Choice in Finding Their Office Urologist?Patient preference and adherence · 2021Article
- Inequalities in morbidity in South Africa: A family perspective.SSM - population health · 2020Article
- Psychological factors and risk of mortality after spinal cord injury.The journal of spinal cord medicine · 2020Article
- Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Mothers on Prevention and Control of Intestinal Parasitic Infestations in Sekota Town, Waghimra Zone, Ethiopia.Pediatric health, medicine and therapeutics · 2020Article
- Why spouses depress each other: A cross-national study to test the shared resource hypothesis in depressive symptom concordance within older adult couples.Asian social work and policy review · 2019Article
- In sickness and in health: A cross-sectional analysis of concordance for musculoskeletal pain in 13,507 couples.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2016Article
- Studying disability trends in aging populations.Journal of cross-cultural gerontology · 2015Review
- Depression among Mexican men on the migration frontier: the role of family separation and other structural and situational stressors.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2014Article
- Individual and household-level predictors of health related quality of life among middle-aged people in rural Mid-east China: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2014Article
- Psychosocial factors associated with diet quality in a working adult population.Research in nursing & health · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeClinical studies have shown strong family influences on individual health, but the aggregate importance of family effects for population health is unknown. Our objective was to estimate, at a population level, the variance in individual health status attributable to the family.
methodsSecondary data were used from the Community Tracking Study, a stratified random sample of the US population. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to estimate the individual and family components of health status. The setting was 60 US communities, which account for approximately one half of the population. Participants were US residents aged 18 years and older who shared a household with family members in the study (N = 35,055). Main outcome measures were the Short Form-12 (SF-12) self-reported physical and mental subscales.
resultsDepending on the family configuration, 4.5% to 26.1% of the variance in individual health status was derived from the family. The proportion was highest for older married persons. The family effect on health status was generally similar for physical and mental health. Including age, family income, and health insurance status in the regression equations moderately reduced the family variance component.
conclusionsAt a population level, the family contribution to individual health status is measurable and substantial. The shared characteristics of income and health insurance account for only a modest portion of the effect. Health policy and interventions should place more emphasis on the family's role in health.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.