Methods for taking family psychiatric histories have been developed
primarily for research rather than clinical settings. The authors compared
family histories obtained independently by a research team and by PGY-3
residents on 52 consecutively admitted adult psychiatric inpatients. In
contrast to the residents, the research team used a family tree, screening
questions, and a structured interview based on diagnostic criteria and
identified more than four times as many diagnoses in relatives as did the
residents. The results demonstrate that a family history strategy derived
from research methodology significantly enhances the gathering of important
diagnostic information in a clinical inpatient setting.Abstract Teaser