Montgomery Guy H, Erblich Joel, DiLorenzo Terry, Bovbjerg Dana H
Derald H. Ruttenberg Cancer Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Prev Med. 2003 Sep;37(3):242-9. doi: 10.1016/s0091-7435(03)00120-8.
For many common diseases, having a family history is the strongest predictor of lifetime risk. Perceptions of personal risk, important for appropriate prevention efforts, have been found to be exaggerated in healthy individuals with family histories. These findings highlight the contribution of objective and experiential factors to perceived risk. This study examined, across a variety of diseases, whether (1) family history of the disease contributes to perceived risk, (2) history of disease in a friend or nonblood relative, which would not increase one's objective risk, nonetheless increases perceived risk, and (3) these effects are similar across genders.
Participants (N = 522; 38% male; 56% Caucasian; mean age = 40 years) completed a brief health survey.
Analyses revealed an effect of having a family history of the disease on perceived risk for breast and colon cancers, heart disease, and diabetes (P < 0.001). Interestingly, having a friend diagnosed with the disease also contributed to perceived risk for breast and colon cancers, as well as heart disease and diabetes among women (P < 0.05), but not among men.
Results suggest that interventions to alter perceived risk of cancer should account for gender, as women appear to be impacted by who they know.
对于许多常见疾病而言，家族病史是终生患病风险的最强预测因素。个人风险认知对于适当的预防措施很重要，但已发现有家族病史的健康个体对其个人风险的认知存在夸大。这些发现凸显了客观因素和经验因素对感知风险的影响。本研究针对多种疾病考察了以下几点：（1）疾病的家族病史是否会导致感知风险增加；（2）朋友或非血亲亲属的疾病史，虽不会增加个人的客观风险，但是否会增加感知风险；以及（3）这些影响在不同性别中是否相似。
参与者（N = 522；38% 为男性；56% 为白种人；平均年龄 = 40 岁）完成了一项简短的健康调查。
分析显示，疾病的家族病史对乳腺癌、结肠癌、心脏病和糖尿病的感知风险有影响（P < 0.001）。有趣的是，有朋友被诊断患有这些疾病也会增加女性对乳腺癌、结肠癌以及心脏病和糖尿病的感知风险（P < 0.05），但对男性则无此影响。
结果表明，改变癌症感知风险的干预措施应考虑性别因素，因为女性似乎会受到其认识的人的影响。
