American journal of preventive medicine
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A growing number of women provide care to disabled or ill relatives. Many studies have linked caregiving to psychiatric morbidity, lower perceived health status, elevated blood pressure, and poorer immune function. However, no studies have examined the association between caregiving and cardiovascular disease incidence. ⋯ These data indicate that high levels of caregiving burden for ill spouses may increase the risk of CHD among women.
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Although family history information on cancer is used to infer risk of the disease in population-based, case-control, cohort, or family-based studies, little information is available on the accuracy of a proband's report. In this study, we sought to determine the validity of the reporting of family history of cancer by probands in population-based and clinic-based family registries of breast, ovarian, and colorectal cancers. ⋯ We found high reliability of probands' reporting on most cancer sites when they reported on first-degree relatives and moderate reliability for their reporting on second- and third-degree relatives. Overreporting of cancer was rare (2.4%). Race or ethnicity and gender of the proband did not influence the accuracy of reporting. However, degree of relationship to the proband, type of cancer, age at diagnosis of the proband, and source of ascertainment of probands were statistically significant predictors of accuracy of reporting.