Gestational hemodilution as a putative risk factor for postpartum depression: A large-scale nationwide longitudinal cohort study.

Background: While anemia during pregnancy has been linked to increased postpartum depression (PPD) risk, longitudinal studies on the association between gestational hemodilution, represented by decreased hematocrit (Hct) during the transition from the 1st to 2nd trimester, and PPD risk, are scarce. The current study aimed to investigate this association in a nationwide cohort over the perinatal period.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 104,715 women who gave birth between January 2008 and December 2015.

Association of Celiac Serology Normalization With the Risk of Hypothyroidism: A Cohort Study.

Introduction: We evaluated whether persistent-positive celiac serology is associated with the risk of hypothyroidism.

Methods: We extracted a cohort of subjects aged 1-80 years with a positive IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2012, and a repeat anti-tissue transglutaminase test within 6-36 months from a large population-based electronic medical record database. Based on serology tests, we categorized the pediatric (age <21 years) and adult cohorts into normalized or persistent-positive serology groups.

Association of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone Inhibitors with COVID-19 Infection and Disease Severity among Individuals with Hypertension.

Background: The association between use of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAAS) inhibitors and both SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19 has been presented in the recent medical literature with inconsistent results.

Objectives: To assess the association between RAAS inhibitor use and two outcomes: infection with SARS-CoV-2 (Model 1) and severe COVID-19 among those infected (Model 2).

Methods: We accessed used electronic health records of individuals from Israel who were receiving anti-hypertensive medications for this retrospective study.

A multi-country investigation of influenza vaccine coverage in pregnant individuals, 2010-2016.

Background: Many countries recommend influenza vaccination during pregnancy. Despite this recommendation, influenza vaccine among pregnant individuals remains under-utilized and uptake varies by country. Factors associated with influenza vaccine uptake during pregnancy may also vary across countries.

Diagnoses and Health Care Utilization for After-Hours Telemedicine Versus Primary Care Visits.

Objective: The use of a nation-wide, pediatricians online (PO) after-hours telemedicine service has been offered in Israel for more than a decade. We sought to compare PO visits with those to the primary care pediatrician (PCP).

Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study using Israel's largest health care provider database.

Body mass index trajectories among people with obesity and association with mortality: Evidence from a large Israeli database.

Objective: Previous studies using longitudinal weight data to characterize obesity are based on populations of limited size and mostly include individuals of all body mass index (BMI) levels, without focusing on weight changes among people with obesity. This study aimed to identify BMI trajectories over 5 years in a large population with obesity, and to determine the trajectories' association with mortality.

Methods: For inclusion, individuals aged 30-74 years at index date (1 January 2013) with continuous membership in Clalit Health Services from 2008 to 2012 were required to have ≥1 BMI measurement per year in ≥3 calendar years during this period, of which at least one was ≥30 kg/m.

Development and validation of a machine learning-based postpartum depression prediction model: A nationwide cohort study.

Background: Currently, postpartum depression (PPD) screening is mainly based on self-report symptom-based assessment, with lack of an objective, integrative tool which identifies women at increased risk, before the emergent of PPD. We developed and validated a machine learning-based PPD prediction model utilizing electronic health record (EHR) data, and identified novel PPD predictors.

Methods: A nationwide longitudinal cohort that included 214,359 births between January 2008 and December 2015, divided into model training and validation sets, was constructed utilizing Israel largest health maintenance organization's EHR-database.

Prediction of Childhood Obesity from Nationwide Health Records.

Objective: To evaluate body mass index (BMI) acceleration patterns in children and to develop a prediction model targeted to identify children at high risk for obesity before the critical time window in which the largest increase in BMI percentile occurs.

Study Design: We analyzed electronic health records of children from Israel's largest healthcare provider from 2002 to 2018. Data included demographics, anthropometric measurements, medications, diagnoses, and laboratory tests of children and their families.

Using population-level incidence of hepatitis C virus and immigration status for data-driven screening policies: a case study in Israel.

Background: Most studies estimate hepatitis C virus (HCV) disease prevalence from convenience samples. Consequently, screening policies may not include those at the highest risk for a new diagnosis.

Methods: Clalit Health Services members aged 25-74 as of 31 December 2009 were included in the study.

The relationship between inpatient hyperglycaemia and mortality is modified by baseline glycaemic status.

Aims: There is a well-established association between inpatient hyperglycaemia and mortality. However, evidence is inconsistent regarding whether this association is differential among those with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Most studies are based on convenience samples or are unable to adjust for comorbidities.

Choosing Wisely: Determining performance of unjustified imaging in a large healthcare system.

Aims: The Choosing Wisely Campaign identifies procedures and treatments that lack clinical justification for routine use according to expert opinion and evidence-based medicine. This study describes the rates and features of two such examples over a 10-year period.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional rolling cohort study between 2008 and 2017 in Clalit Health Services, the largest healthcare delivery system in Israel, with seven main hospitals and over 4.

A comprehensive descriptive assessment of obesity related chronic morbidity and estimated annual cost burden from a population-based electronic health record database.

Background: The growing prevalence of obesity and its complications pose a huge burden on the individual and health care systems worldwide. This study presents the frequency of multiple prevalent co-morbidities and estimated annual cost burden by body mass index (BMI) groups, age, and sex among the Israeli adult population to provide policy makers with further evidence to appropriately target interventions.

Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized population-based electronic medical records from the largest payer-provider health fund in Israel.

Long-term effectiveness of the Diabetes Conversation Map™ Program on health outcomes: A case-control retrospective cohort study.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical and health behavioural outcomes of a large sample of participants from the Diabetes Conversation Map™ Program.

Design: A matched-case-control study that was performed on a retrospective cohort study.

Methods: Participants were 11,053 Clalit Health Services members with type 2 diabetes who enrolled in the Diabetes Conversation Map™ Program between January 2010 - April 2016.

An international cohort study of birth outcomes associated with hospitalized acute respiratory infection during pregnancy.

Objectives: Findings during the 2009 pandemic suggest severe maternal infection with pandemic influenza had adverse perinatal health consequences. Limited data exist evaluating the perinatal health effects of severe seasonal influenza and non-influenza infections during pregnancy.

Methods: A retrospective cohort of pregnant women from Australia, Canada, Israel, and the United States was established using birth records to identify pregnancies and birth outcomes and hospital and laboratory testing records to identify influenza and non-influenza associated acute respiratory or febrile illness (ARFI) hospitalizations.

Prediction of gestational diabetes based on nationwide electronic health records.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) poses increased risk of short- and long-term complications for mother and offspring. GDM is typically diagnosed at 24-28 weeks of gestation, but earlier detection is desirable as this may prevent or considerably reduce the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Here we used a machine-learning approach to predict GDM on retrospective data of 588,622 pregnancies in Israel for which comprehensive electronic health records were available.

High rates of serology testing for coeliac disease, and low rates of endoscopy in serologically positive children and adults in Israel: lessons from a large real-world database.

Background: Although coeliac disease is common worldwide, little is known regarding screening patterns in unselected populations, and on real-life adherence to professional guidelines for coeliac disease diagnosis and management.

Objective: To explore current practices in the diagnosis and management of coeliac disease, using data from a large Health Maintenance Organization in Israel that covers 54% of the population.

Methods: A population-based electronic database of about 4.

Validating reported cause of death using integrated electronic health records from a nation-wide database.

Background: To compare the underlying cause of death reported by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) with diagnoses in the electronic health records (EHR) of a fully integrated payer/provider healthcare system.

Methods: Underlying cause of death was obtained from the CBS for deaths occurring during 2009-2012 of all Clalit Health Service members in Israel. The final cohort consisted of members who had complete medical records.

Association between prenatal exposure to a 1-month period of repeated rocket attacks and neuropsychiatric outcomes up through age 9: a retrospective cohort study.

Exposure to gestational stress is implicated in increased risk for neuropsychiatric disorders in offspring. We assessed association between prenatal exposure to a 1-month period of repeated rocket attacks during the 2006 Second Lebanon War in Northern Israel and emergence of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders from birth through 9 years of age. Children born to women who were pregnant during the war (N = 6999) were identified and compared to children in the same district born a year later (N = 7054), whose mothers were not exposed to rocket attacks during pregnancy.

Adherence to antidepressant medications is associated with reduced premature mortality in patients with cancer: A nationwide cohort study.

Background: Depression and anxiety are common in cancer and antidepressants (AD) are efficacious treatment. The relationship between AD adherence and mortality in cancer is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between adherence to AD and all-cause mortality in a population-based cohort of patients with cancer.

Effectiveness of Managing Diabetes During Ramadan Conversation Map intervention: A difference-in-differences (self-comparison) design.

Background: Some individuals with diabetes fast during Ramadan despite medical concerns for risk of adverse outcomes. The Managing Diabetes During Ramadan Conversation Map is a self-management education group-based intervention for Muslim individuals with type 2 diabetes, specifically addressing diabetes management during Ramadan.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Managing Diabetes During Ramadan Conversation Map intervention in improving short-term clinical outcomes and reducing healthcare utilization following Ramadan.

Incident gout and chronic Kidney Disease: healthcare utilization and survival.

Background: Uncontrolled gout can cause significant joint and organ damage and has been associated with impairments in quality of life and high economic cost. Gout has also been associated with other comorbid diseases, such as chronic kidney disease. The current study explored if healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and survival differs between patients with incident gout in the presence or absence of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Development of a risk score for predicting the benefit versus harm of extending dual antiplatelet therapy beyond 6 months following percutaneous coronary intervention for stable coronary artery disease.

Background: Decisions on dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) duration should balance the opposing risks of ischaemia and bleeding. Our aim was to develop a risk score to identify stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) patients undergoing PCI who would benefit or suffer from extending DAPT beyond 6 months.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of a cohort of patients who completed 6 months of DAPT following PCI.

Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against Hospitalization in Fully and Partially Vaccinated Children in Israel: 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018.

Background: Influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) varies by season, circulating influenza strain, age, and geographic location. There have been few studies of influenza VE among hospitalized children, particularly in Europe and the Middle East.

Methods: We estimated VE against influenza hospitalization among children aged 6 months to 8 years at Clalit Health Services hospitals in Israel in the 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018 influenza seasons, using the test-negative design.

Estimating Vaccine Effectiveness Against Hospitalized Influenza During Pregnancy: Multicountry Protocol for a Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Although pregnant women are believed to have elevated risks of severe influenza infection and are targeted for influenza vaccination, no study to date has examined influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalizations during pregnancy, primarily because this outcome poses many methodological challenges.

Objective: The Pregnancy Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network (PREVENT) was formed in 2016 as an international collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Abt Associates; and study sites in Australia, Canada, Israel, and the United States. The primary goal of this collaboration is to estimate IVE in preventing acute respiratory or febrile illness (ARFI) hospitalizations associated with laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection during pregnancy.