Collecting Family Health History using an Online Social Network: a Nationwide Survey among Potential Users.

Family health history (FHx) is one of the most important risk factors for disease. Unfortunately, collection and use of FHx is under-utilized in the clinical setting. Efforts to improve collection of FHx have had minimal impact. A novel approach to collect FHx using social networking capabilities is being explored. We conducted a nationwide survey of 5,258 respondents to 1- assess the interest in using an online social network for FHx, 2- identify if such a tool would have clinical utility, and 3- identify notable trends and potential concerns. We found survey respondents to be very supportive of the proposed approach and interesting trends related to age, education, and race were identified. Results from this survey will be used to guide future research and development of a proposed FHx social network application.