Clinical Applications Committee Meeting

Clinical Applications Committee meeting

Family Health History Taskforce

April 25, 2006

In attendance: Han Kim (UofU), Janet Williams (IHC), Elizabeth Dranow (UofU), Barbara Larsen (UDOH), Karen Coats (UDOH), Rebecca Giles, and Jenny Johnson

Meeting Minutes

Proposed pilot test:

A pilot test using the Health Family Tree (HFT) online tool will be conducted in two University of Utah clinics. The clinics selected are the Sugarhouse and Madsen clinics. The HFT will be used to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients attending the clinics. A case control study design will be used and the clinics will be randomized into an intervention (using the HFT) and control group. We will restrict the study to patients coming in for annual physicals or well-visits.

The HFT is available online at After pilot testing, the HFT will be switched over to a server at the University of Utah and the url will change.

Study Questions:

PROVIDERS – Usefulness of the Health Family Tree tool, clarity of the risk messages, does the HFT alter clinical management/patient care?
PATIENTS – Ease of access/using the HFT, what was the effective of intended behavior changes, how long did it take to complete, was the risk messages and resources useful, and did patients share the information with their family members or provider?
LONG TERM CLINICAL OUTCOMES – Does the HFT motivate behavior change in those considered high risk?

Responsibilities and Assignments

Funding – all members
Possible funding sources: Most Gene, NIH r21, HRSA, American Heart Association, National Human Genome Research Institute
Development of methodology, sample sizes, and budget – Han and Elizabeth
Send out HFT journal articles – Jenny (see page 2)
Do patients need to sign separate consent forms or will the consent form on the HFT be sufficient? Need to double check with Ted Adams or Steve Hunt – Jenny
IRB approval
Concept paper
Questionnaires development
Education for providers (how to use HFT, interpret results, manage patients, etc)

Next Meeting:

Wednesday May 31 from 2-3 pm at the University of Utah DFPM building, room 220 (Han can you please schedule the room again?)

Health Family Tree citations

Johnson J, Giles RT, Larsen L, Ware J, Adams T, Hunt SC. Utah’s Family High Risk Program: bridging the gap between genomics and public health. Prev Chronic Dis [serial online] 2005 Apr. Available from: URL:

Hunt SC, Gwinn M, Adams TD. Family history assessment (strategies for prevention of cardiovascular disease). Am J Prev Med 2003;24:136-142.
Hunt SC. Using family history of coronary heart disease in clinical practice. Family Prac Recertification 2003;25:49-64.
Williams RR, Hunt SC, Heiss G, et al. Usefulness of cardiovascular family history data for population-based preventive medicine and medical research (the Health Family Tree Study and the NHLBI Family Heart Study). Am J Cardiol 2001;87:129-135.
Hopkins PN, Williams RR, Kuida H, et al. Family history as an independent risk factor for incident coronary artery disease in a high-risk cohort in Utah. Am J Cardiol 1998;62:703-707.
Williams RR, Hunt SC, Barlow GK, et al. Health family trees: A tool for finding and helping young family members of coronary and cancer prone pedigrees in Texas and Utah. Am J Public Health 1988;78:1283-1286.
Hunt SC, Williams RR, Barlow GK. A comparison of positive family history definitions for defining risk of future disease. J Chron Dis 1986;39:809-821.
Beck S, Breckenridge-Potterf S, Wallace S, et al. The Family High Risk Program: Targeted cancer prevention. Oncol Nurs Forum 1988;15:301-306.
Breckenridge-Potterf S, Ware J, Giles R, et al. The Family High Risk Program: Community health nurses in targeted prevention. Health Action Papers 1988;2:15-24.