Family relationships in prediction of ageing

This paper presents a study of the predictive value of family relationships from genealogies, and its impact on the delayed ageing. The study comprised adult population over 18 years of age of two urban family practices (N = 1700). The study sample included all patients (total = 581; 57.3% female, 42.7% male) having sought medical assistance of any kind in the period of three consecutive months. The study was performed in two stages. The selection of patients according to the results of the 25th and 75th percentiles of the memory component analysis was done in stage I. The comparison of life history and events across a genealogy in the groups of the 25th and 75th percentile memory deficit was done in stage II. The method used in stage I was a psychological test--Pictures of Object Test (POT) to test the memory deficit. In stage II, personal life histories and description of the genealogies were obtained by individuals' associations expressed in the form of a free text which was then analyzed statistically (SPAD-T), and the results were correlated to data read on the developed genogram. The statistical text analysis of life-events recall and the correlation across a genealogy showed a difference in the patterns of family relationships across a genealogy in the two study groups, and their predictive value for prevention in family practice.