Factors that affect pain management in adults diagnosed with acute appendicitis in the emergency department: A retrospective study.

Background: Analgesic treatment, including with opioids, can safely be given to patients who are suspected of having appendicitis. The study examined factors which may influence the treatment of pain in appendicitis in the adult emergency department (ED). A secondary objective was to determine if analgesia affected clinical outcomes.

Acute Appendicitis Non-Operative Management Rate Trends Over Two Decades (2000 to 2019): The Israel experience.

Background: Acute appendicitis (AA) is a medical emergency. The standard of care for AA had been surgical appendectomy. Recently, non-operative management (NOM) has been considered, mainly for uncomplicated AA.

Trends of Bacterial Meningitis Incidence Rate over 20 Years (2000 to 2019): The Israel Experience.

Background: Bacterial meningitis (BM) remains a considerable cause of morbidity.

Objectives: To evaluate BM incidence rate trends in diverse age groups.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study based on the Israeli national registry.

People with serious mental illness are at higher risk for acute care hospitalization in Israel, 2000-2019.

Background: People with severe mental disorders have higher mortality rates and more chronic physical conditions than the general population. Recent reforms in the Israeli mental health system included reducing the number of psychiatric hospital beds ("Structural Reform"), establishing community- based rehabilitation services ("Rehabilitation Reform"), and the transfer of governmental responsibility to the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) ("Insurance Reform"). We examined how these changes have impacted the physical health of people with severe mental illness as reflected in acute care hospitalizations.

Mortality during the first four waves of COVID-19 pandemic in Israel: March 2020-October 2021.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused four waves of infection in Israel until October 2021. Israel was the first country to offer vaccinations to all the adult population followed by boosters. This study addresses how mortality rates reflect the effects of the pandemic.

Improved method for revising the Israel birthweight references.

Objectives: Birthweight is often used as an indicator of fetal health. Categorization of infants as small or large for gestational age has clinical significance. Due to growth differences between countries, it is important to have local reference data.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-COVID respiratory ED visits in Israel.

Background: The COVID 19 pandemic has had a crucial effect on the patterns of disease and treatment in the healthcare system. This study examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on respiratory ED visits and admissions broken down by age group and respiratory diagnostic category.

Methods: Data on non-COVID related ED visits and hospitalizations from the ED were obtained in a retrospective analysis for 29 acute care hospitals, covering 98% of ED beds in Israel, and analyzed by 5 age groups: under one-year-old, 1-17, 18-44, 45-74 and 75 and over.

Regional differences in pediatric asthma hospital admissions: National data from Israel 1996-2017.

Background: Asthma is a common chronic childhood illness and frequent cause of hospitalization. A decline in hospital admission rates was noted up to the 1990s, however, trends are not as clear since the turn of the century. This study aimed to assess the rates and regional differences of asthma admissions over more than two decades using the national Ministry of Health database, which registers data from all the hospitals.

Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, March-November 2020: when, where, and for whom?

Background: Excess all-cause mortality has been used in many countries as an estimate of mortality effects from COVID-19. What was the excess mortality in Israel in 2020 and when, where and for whom was this excess?

Methods: Mortality rates between March to November 2020 for various demographic groups, cities, month and week were compared with the average rate during 2017-2019 for the same groups or periods.

Results: Total mortality rates for March-November were significantly higher by 6% in 2020, than the average of 2017-2019, 14% higher among the Arab population and 5% among Jews and Others.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus hospitalization burden: a nation-wide population-based analysis, 2000-2017.

Objectives: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a known cause of morbidity among young children, while RSV-related disease in the elderly is not fully recognized. Several RSV candidate vaccines for infants, pregnant women and adults are under development. We aimed to estimate nationwide age-specific hospitalizations and seasonal trends, to help determine the optimal age for vaccination.

Effects of rotavirus vaccine on all-cause acute gastroenteritis and rotavirus hospitalizations in Israel: A nationwide analysis.

Background: In December 2010, the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq) was added to the national immunization program in Israel. The study aim was to examine national reductions in all-cause acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) hospitalizations among children aged 0-59 months following the introduction of universal rotavirus immunization in Israel.

Methods: We extracted data from the Israel National Hospital Discharge Database.

Reintroducing OPV in Israel on the journey to global polio eradication - Estimation at a low rate of contraindicated population.

Introduction: The 2013 reemergence of wild poliovirus in Israel led to the reinstatement of a routine OPV vaccination. Fearing VAPP in immunocompromised, the MOH regulated contraindications for vaccination candidates and household contacts. In this study we estimate the size of the contraindicated population to OPV vaccination.

"The next-generation": Long-term reproductive outcome of adults born at a very low birth weight.

Background: Preterm birth at very low birth weight (VLBW, <1500g) has a multitude of consequences that extend to various aspects of adult life. Little is known about the long-term reproductive outcome of VLBW that survive to adulthood.

Aims: To evaluate the reproductive outcome of VLBW infants who survive to adulthood (next-generation).

Influenza Season Hospitalization Trends in Israel: A Multi-Year Comparative Analysis 2005/2006 Through 2012/2013.

Background: Influenza-related morbidity impacts healthcare systems, including hospitals.

Objective: To obtain a quantitative assessment of hospitalization burden in pediatric and internal medicine departments during influenza seasons compared with the summer months in Israel.

Methods: Data on pediatric and internal medicine hospitalized patients in general hospitals in Israel during the influenza seasons between 2005 and 2013 were analyzed for rate of hospitalizations, rate of hospitalization days, hospital length of stay (LOS), and bed occupancy and compared with the summer months.

Regional variations in mortality and causes of death in Israel, 2009-2013.

Background: Regional variations in mortality can be used to study and assess differences in disease prevalence and factors leading to disease and mortality from different causes. To enable this comparison, it is important to standardize the mortality data to adjust for the effects of regional population differences in age, nationality and country of origin.

Methods: Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were calculated for the districts and sub-districts in Israel, for total mortality by gender as well as for leading causes of death and selected specific causes.

Geographic variation in selected hospital procedures and services in the Israeli health care system.

Background: Medical practice variation refers to differences in health service utilization among regions in the same country. It is used as a tool for studying health inequities. In 2011, the OECD launched a Medical Practice Variation Project which examines regional differences within countries and explores the sources of the inter-regional differences.

Delivery of a very low birth weight infant and increased maternal risk of cancer and death: a population study with 16 years of follow-up.

Background: Pregnancy complications represent sentinel events for women's future health. We investigated whether delivery of a very low birth weight (VLBW) infant is associated with increased maternal risk for future incidence of maternal cancer and death.

Methods: This is a population-based cohort study of linked Israeli Ministry of Health datasets between 1995 and 2011.

The Israel National Hospital Discharge Register: an essential component of data driven healthcare.

The Israel National Hospital Discharge Register (INHDR) is an essential section of healthcare data. It includes record for each admission to hospital wards during the last twenty years, and the data are increasing by digitally updated information from hospitals on continually a monthly or quarterly basis. The register contains encrypted patient identity number, admission number, demographic and geographic data, hospitalization data, diagnoses, procedures and accounting data.

Correction of sampling bias in a cross-sectional study of post-surgical complications.

Cross-sectional designs are often used to monitor the proportion of infections and other post-surgical complications acquired in hospitals. However, conventional methods for estimating incidence proportions when applied to cross-sectional data may provide estimators that are highly biased, as cross-sectional designs tend to include a high proportion of patients with prolonged hospitalization. One common solution is to use sampling weights in the analysis, which adjust for the sampling bias inherent in a cross-sectional design.

Trends in acute non-variceal bleeding in Israel in 1996-2007: a significant decrease in the rates of bleeding peptic ulcers.

Background: A decrease in the incidence of hospital admissions for acute non-variceal upper GI bleeding (AUGIB) has been reported in regions with a low prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection.

Aim: To investigate trends in hospital admissions for AUGIB in Israel, where the prevalence of HP infection is intermediate.

Methods: We have searched the National Hospital Discharge Database of the Israeli Ministry of Health, where all admissions to acute care hospitals for the period January 1, 1996 through December 31, 2007 are compiled.

Effect of interpregnancy interval on adverse perinatal outcomes--a national study.

Background: The interpregnancy interval (IPI) has been reported to influence the outcome of pregnancy and birth. We performed a national study in Israel to determine the impact of IPI on multiple adverse perinatal outcomes.

Study Design: This longitudinal cohort study used birth certificates of siblings born to the same biological mother, with at least one previous birth and a subsequent singleton pregnancy.

Dialysis in Israel, 1989-2005--time trends and international comparisons.

Background: A universal increase in the incidence of renal replacement therapy (RRT) was reported in developed countries during the 1990s, especially among the elderly and diabetic patients. We studied trends in RRT incidence and mortality in Israel between 1989 and 2001-2005.

Methods: The end-stage renal disease (ESRD) registry holds data on all RRT patients in Israel.

Birth weight standards in the live-born population in Israel.

Background: Lacking curves of "intrauterine" growth, most birthing centers in Israel use United States or Canadian based curves as standards.

Objective: To establish population-based standards of birth weight of live-born infants in Israel.

Methods: Data on birth weight and gestational age were obtained from the registries of the Israel Ministry of Health and Ministry of the Interior, During the 9 year study period there were 1,074,122 infants delivered in Israel; 787,710 (73%) were included in this analysis.