Family Matters: The Nurse's Role in Assessing Family Health History in Ocular Disease.
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: The emergence of genetically-influenced medicine is becoming substantially more relevant to clinical practice. Research shows that the public is very optimistic about the promise of genetic research in health promotion (Etchegary et al., 2013). Massive research undertakings, such as the Human Genome Project (Keleher, 1993) and the National Cancer Institute’s Precision Medicine Initiative (Coyne, Takebe, & Chen, 2017), have increased the public’s knowledge of how genetics can influence health outcomes and future treatment options.
While these large-scale efforts are undoubtedly useful, the utilization of a simple family health history (FHH) in nursing practice can be an incredibly easy, cost-effective way to identify an individual’s personalized risk for disease development and to promote effective health promotion strategies to the public (Claassen et al., 2010; Lushniak, 2015). In some cases, the value of FHH can be increased beyond laboratory testing because it considers both genetic predisposition and the inclusion of environmental influences that are common within families (such as diet or smoking) that can impact health outcomes. FHH collection tools are readily available online and can be saved for future use and distribution (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.).
Nurses are uniquely positioned to empower patients to not only understand the importance of collecting FHH, but also to encourage them to utilize this information to prevent or delay morbidity. Many ocular conditions, including age-related macular degeneration (Fritsche et al., 2014; Liu, Chan, & Tuo, 2012; Sardell et al., 2016), glaucoma (Klein, Klein, & Lee, 2004; Loomis et al., 2014; Yi et al., 2013; Zhou et al., 2015), keratoconus (Bykhovskaya et al., 2012; Li et al., 2013; Yi et al., 2013), Fuchs Dystrophy (Foja, Luther, Hoffmann, Rupprecht, & Gruenauer-Kloevekorn, 2017; Khuc et al., 2017; Kuot et al., 2017; Lau et al., 2014), epithelial basement membrane dystrophy/anterior basement membrane dystrophy (Boutboul et al., 2006; Evans et al., 2016), and diabetic retinopathy(Burdon et al., 2015; Simoes et al., 2014), are influenced by genetics, and incorporating this information in patient assessment may be clinically relevant. By becoming familiar with some of the main ocular conditions that are more prevalent in families and subsequently educating patients about the role of FHH in ocular disease risk, the ophthalmic nurse can be a powerful advocate in the optimization of patient health outcomes.
Source: PubMed
Author: Frances M Peterson-Burch
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Language: English
Subfield: Ophthalmology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2992674642