Adolescents' knowledge of medical terminology and family health history.

Compared 309 youths (aged 10.4–15.7 yrs) and their parents with respect to comprehension of terms for 7 common medical disorders: heart attack, stroke, atherosclerosis, ulcer, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. For two-thirds of the adolescents, accuracy of reporting of these disorders among the parents and grandparents was assessed. Results indicate considerable variation among disorders with respect to both comprehension of terms and accuracy of family health history. Adolescents' age was a major predictor of knowledge of medical terms. Age was not related to accuracy of family health information. Adolescents' level of accuracy regarding family health history was generally similar to that of previous adult samples, suggesting that family health information is acquired and retained at an early age. Adolescents were more accurate concerning parents' compared with grandparents' history of hypertension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)