Identification of Cardiovascular Risk: Use of a Cardiovascular‐Specific Genogram

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects nearly 50 million Americans of all ages, races, and educational levels. Many of the risk factors for CVD are modifiable and public health nurses (PHNs) are in unique position to impact this major health problem because of their access to individuals, families, and groups. Addressing this major health problem requires early identification of those at risk for CVD. This article describes the implementation of a cardiovascular-specific genogram (CVSG) which can be used to identify persons at risk for CVD. Rationale for the development of this disease-specific tool and suggestions for its clinical application are discussed. The genogram was distributed to the parents of 100 6th grade students. All of the respondents reported cardiovascular risk factors present in at least one of three generations examined. The risk factors in the two younger generations were at the primary and secondary levels of prevention and were modifiable with intervention. Only the older generation in this sample had tertiary level risk factors. The CVSG can easily be incorporated into all aspects of public health nursing practice, from assessment for case finding to planning and implementing disease management strategies. The CVSG can identify individuals, families, and groups at risk for CVD allowing the nurse to focus attention on those most at risk, and to implement proactive assessment, screening, and educational programs.

Perfil lipídico, de aptidão cardiorrespiratória, e de composição corporal de uma amostra de dscolares de 8ª série de Canoas/RS

“…Além do excesso de peso/obesidade, sabe-se que o estilo de vida, principalmente a atividade física habitual e os hábitos alimentares podem influenciar nas concentrações de lipídeos no plasma. A dislipidemia, caracterizada por estas alterações no metabolismo lipídico (13) , parece já atingir um número bastante elevado de crianças e adolescentes (14)(15)(16)(17) , o que se torna preocupante, visto que a probabilidade de um adolescente com colesterol total acima do aceitável mantenha-se assim durante a vida adulta é bastante elevada, chegando a 80% em alguns estudos (18,19) . O estudo destas questões reveste-se de especial importância, já que a crescente preocupação com o aparecimento de doenças cardiovasculares na adolescência leva à necessidade de que os fatores de risco sejam amplamente investigados nesse período, a fim de planejar intervenções cada vez mais precoces e, positivamente, mais eficazes sobre esses fatores, reduzindo, em última análise, a prevalência de doenças cardiovasculares.…”

Family Genogram in General Medicine: A Soft Technology that can be Strong. An Update

“…In the diagnosis it will help us in carrying out an analysis from the biopsychosocial point of view, that is, a systemic hypothesis of the demand. So we can assess how family history may be influencing your current illness and what health beliefs the patient and family may have [45][46][47].…”

Nursing conceptualizations of research and practice

“…The lack of tools that represent real families has left researchers relying on tools that represent only the biological family. For example, pedigree tools have been used to collect data about biological family members, and nursing researchers have analyzed those data to explore children’s exposure to behavioral, environmental, and genetic risk factors 38, 39. As previously described, although these tools are appropriate for examining genetic risk, they may be inappropriate for analyzing the behavioral and environmental factors that family members share, because it is not clear what role biological family members play in the family or what information is missing about other family members who do have environmental factors and behaviors in common.…”