Family health history and self-rated health: a study from the Turkish countryside

Self-rated health is a good indicator for mortality and morbidity, and many of the factors affecting self-rated health are well known. However, the effect of familial disease history on an individual's health perception has not been investigated. This study examined the effects of chronic and serious diseases in mothers, fathers, and siblings, and familial deaths, on self-rated health. A history of familial cancer or stroke affected men's health perceptions negatively, and the presence of familial heart disease affected women's health perception negatively.