Family History Questionnaire Research Articles

Risk of cancer in relatives of patients with cutaneous melanoma.

Cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) is a recognized feature of the Lynch type II cancer-family syndrome and the Li-Fraumeni's syndrome. A significant contribution of these syndromes to the total burden of CMM would be reflected in an increased risk of nonmelanoma cancers in first degree relatives. Pedigrees were taken from 85 patients with CMM using a family history questionnaire. The relative risk of death from all cancers and individual cancers in first degree relatives was calculated. Of the 85 questionnaires, those of 79 patients were completed and of adequate quality for analysis. The first degree relatives of CMM patients showed no increased risk of cancer death, the relative risk of cancer death being 1.0. Six patients (7.6%) had first degree relatives with CMM. One patient had a family history compatible with the dominant transmission of a predisposition to cancer. It is important to establish whether an increased cancer risk is present in relatives of patients with malignancies so that screening programs may be offered. This study provides little evidence to support seeing relatives for noncutaneous malignancies in the absence of a dominant family history of predisposition to cancers. The increased frequency of CMM in relatives suggests that relatives of CMM patients should be counseled on protection from the sun and examination of the skin for melanoma.

Genetic epidemiological studies of early-onset deafness in the U.S. school-age population.

Profound, early-onset deafness is present in 4-11 per 10,000 children, and is attributable to genetic causes in at least 50% of cases. Family history questionnaires were sent to 26,152 families of children with profound, early-onset deafness not known to be related to an environmental cause. The probands were ascertained through the 1988-89 Gallaudet University Annual Survey of Hearing Impaired Children and Youth. The analysis is based on the responses that were received from 8,756 families. Classical segregation analysis was used to analyze the family data, and to estimate the proportions of sporadic, recessive and dominant causes of deafness in the families. These data were consistent with 37.2% of the cases due to sporadic causes, and 62.8% due to genetic causes (47.1% recessive, and 15.7% dominant). An earlier study using the 1969-70 Annual Survey found 49.3% sporadic cases and 50.6% genetic, demonstrating that the proportion of sporadic cases of early-onset deafness has significantly decreased since 1970.

The Prevalence of Anxiety Disorders Among Patients With Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome and Chest Pain

Nineteen patients from a cardiology practice with complaints of chest pain and with mitral valve prolapse syndrome were compared with 26 patients with chest pain but no discernible cardiac disorder. Instruments included a truncated form of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, the symptom checklist 90 revised (SCL-90-R), the McGill Pain Questionnaire, and life events, physical activity, and family history questionnaires. Neither panic disorder nor self-rated anxiety were more common in the mitral valve prolapse group. This study failed to confirm the reported high association between mitral valve prolapse syndrome and panic disorder.

Familial thyroid disease and delayed language development in first admission patients with schizophrenia

One hundred consecutive first admission patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophreniform disorder were compared with 100 randomly selected community controls. Childhood histories of physical, medical, and perinatal trauma, as well as physical and cognitive development, were examined by structured interviews with all available mothers of patients and controls. The prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders and several medical illnesses among first degree and more distant relatives was determined by family history questionnaires. The patient group did not have an excess of childhood head injuries, serious infections, or perinatal/birth complications compared with controls. With social class level taken into account, it was found that the acquisition of reading skills occured significantly later in patients than controls. Family histories of schizophrenia and thyroid disorders were significantly more frequent among patients than controls. These data fail to indicate any childhood physical or medical environmental trauma that could lead to an increased risk for schizophrenia, although patients were substance abusers to a greater extent than controls. This study also confirms the already known contribution of familial factors and suggests an association of the inheritance of thyroid disorders with schizophrenia. Delayed development of reading skills suggests that precursers of illness may appear early in life before psychosis is evident.

Risk of dementia in relatives of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Using a family history questionnaire, we investigated the occurrence of dementia among relatives of patients with a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and among the relatives of age-matched control subjects. Cumulative lifetime risk of developing AD-type dementia was greater among relatives of AD probands and was consistent with an autosomal dominant genetic mode of transmission. Although the lifetime risk of AD-type dementia was similar among relatives of early-onset and late-onset AD probands, relatives of early-onset probands tended to have an earlier onset of dementia than did relatives of late-onset AD probands. This result raises the possibility that age at onset of dementia in AD may be genetically determined.

Biological vulnerability to depression: replication of MAO and evoked potentials as risk factors.

In previous work, we have reported that specific combinations of platelet (MAO) activity and evoked potential augmenting/reducing (AR) are associated with risk for affective disorders. This new study screened 271 college freshmen solely on MAO and AR and selected a sample with extreme values on both measures. These students were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and they completed a family history questionnaire and psychosocial scales. Following the previous work, the same MAO and AR combinations were related to the frequency of major depression and a family history of psychiatric disorder.

A family study of Paget's disease of bone.

Familial aggregation of Paget's disease of bone occurs occasionally and an exclusively genetic aetiology has been proposed in the past. On the other hand, epidemiological surveys point to an important environmental contribution, and evidence is accumulating to suggest that the disease may be caused by a slow virus infection. Analysis of 407 family history questionnaires completed by patients with Paget's disease confirmed the familial nature of the disease. Overall, the findings were consistent with the hypothesis that Paget's disease is caused by infection with a common and widespread virus superimposed on genetic variation for susceptibility and perhaps severity of the disease.