Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct;50(5):572-585.
doi: 10.1177/10901981231152430. Epub 2023 Feb 16.

Understanding the Process of Family Cancer History Collection and Health Information Seeking

Caitlin G Allen  1 , Ridgely Fisk Green  2 , Nicole F Dowling  2 , Temeika L Fairley  2 , Muin J Khoury  2
Affiliations

Understanding the Process of Family Cancer History Collection and Health Information Seeking

Caitlin G Allen et al. Health Educ Behav. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Problem addressed: To better understand the factors associated with family cancer history (FCH) information and cancer information seeking, we model the process an individual undergoes when assessing whether to gather FCH and seek cancer information and compare models by sociodemographics and family history of cancer. We used cross-sectional data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 5, Cycle 2) and variables (e.g., emotion and self-efficacy) associated with the Theory of Motivated Information Management to assess the process of FCH gathering and information seeking. We completed path analysis to assess the process of FCH gathering and stratified path models.

Results: Those who felt they could lower their chances of getting cancer (emotion) were more confident in their ability to complete FCH on a medical form (self-efficacy; B = 0.11, p < .0001) and more likely to have discussed FCH with family members (B = 0.07, p < .0001). Those who were more confident in their ability to complete a summary of their family history on a medical form were more likely to have discussed FCH with family members (B = 0.34, p < .0001) and seek other health information (B = 0.24, p < .0001). Stratified models showed differences in this process by age, race/ethnicity, and family history of cancer.

Implications for public health research and practice: Tailoring outreach and education strategies to address differences in perceived ability to lower chances of getting cancer (emotion) and confidence in the ability to complete FCH (self-efficacy) could help encourage less engaged individuals to learn about their FCH and gather cancer information.

Keywords: cancer; cancer beliefs; family health history.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Testing the Proposed Path Model.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Testing the Stratified Path Model by Family History of Cancer.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Testing Stratified Path Model by Age.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Testing the Stratified Path Model by Race/Ethnicity.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Testing the Stratified Path Model by Gender.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Allen CG, Escoffery C, Haardorfer R, & McBride CM (2018). Factors influencing not perceiving family health history assessments as important: Opportunities to improve dissemination of evidence-based population screening for cancer. Public Health Genomics, 21(3–4), 144–153. 10.1159/000499125 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Allen CG, Escoffery C, Haardorfer R, & McBride CM (in press). Multilevel factors influencing poor uptake of family health history assessments: Opportunities to improve dissemination of evidence based population screening for cancer. Public Health Genomics https://www.jstor.org/stable/26778400 - PubMed
    1. Ashida S, Goodman MS, Stafford J, Lachance C, & Kaphingst KA (2012). Perceived familiarity with and importance of family health history among a medically underserved population. Journal of Community Genetics, 3(4), 285–295. 10.1007/s12687-012-0097-x - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barrett P (2007). Structural equation modelling: Adjudging model fit. Personality and Individual Differences, 42(5), 815–824.
    1. Bentler PM (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107(2), 238–246. 10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.238 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types