Abstract
This study examined medical students’ and house officers’ opinions about the Surgeon General’s “My Family Health Portrait” (MFHP) tool. Participants used the tool and were surveyed about tool mechanics, potential clinical uses, and barriers. None of the 97 participants had previously used this tool. The average time to enter a family history was 15 min (range 3 to 45 min). Participants agreed or strongly agreed that the MFHP tool is understandable (98%), easy to use (93%), and suitable for general public use (84%). Sixty-seven percent would encourage their patients to use the tool; 39% would ensure staff assistance. Participants would use the tool to identify patients at increased risk for disease (86%), record family history in the medical chart (84%), recommend preventive health behaviors (80%), and refer to genetics services (72%). Concerns about use of the tool included patient access, information accuracy, technical challenges, and the need for physician education on interpreting family history information.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by a Rackham Graduate Student Research Grant. The authors would like to thank Joe Kazemi, MA, for his assistance with statistical analysis.
Disclosure of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise. The authors have full control of all primary data and provide permission for the Journal of Genetic Counseling to review this data if requested.
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Appendix: Survey Questions
Appendix: Survey Questions
The Surgeon General’s “My Family Health Portrait” tool is intended to be used by patients to record their family history and share this history with their physicians and with family members. We are interested in your opinions regarding the utility of this tool.
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Owens, K.M., Marvin, M.L., Gelehrter, T.D. et al. Clinical Use of the Surgeon General’s “My Family Health Portrait” (MFHP) Tool: Opinions of Future Health Care Providers. J Genet Counsel 20, 510–525 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-011-9381-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-011-9381-x