What is a common past medical history finding in a patient with cystic fibrosis?

A positive family history is indeed a common finding in patients with cystic fibrosis because cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder. This means that the disease is inherited when both parents carry a mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. As a result, individuals with cystic fibrosis often have a family history of the disease, or in some cases, family members who are carriers of the mutation.

In the context of cystic fibrosis, understanding the genetic aspect is essential, as knowing about family history can help in early diagnosis and testing of relatives for carrier status. This genetic predisposition also explains why other options, although they may be relevant to a patient's health history, are not as directly associated with cystic fibrosis as a family history is. The presence of frequent ear infections, asthma attacks, or growth spurts, while significant in their own contexts, do not specifically correlate with the underlying genetic nature of cystic fibrosis.