Step 1: A pedigree is a diagram that gives a graphic depiction of a family structure and its medical history across generations. The person who first brings the family to medical attention and provides the information is called the proband.
Step 2: Standardised symbols are used for each individual and relationship, and a three generation pedigree is usually drawn. This allows the doctor to track how a trait or disease is passed from parents to children, so the main use is to study genetic transmission of a condition within a family.
Step 3: The closer the relationship of the proband to an affected person, the greater the chance of a shared genetic component. Growth monitoring, chemotherapy side effects and developmental delay are clinical or follow up assessments and have nothing to do with charting inheritance, so options a, b and d are incorrect.