Cesarean delivery on maternal request in Israel: Maternity department policies and obstetricians' perspectives.

Objective: This study aimed to describe Israeli maternity departments' policies regarding cesarean delivery on maternal request, and factors associated with obstetricians' support for cesarean delivery on maternal request in specific scenarios.

Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study included 22 maternity department directors and 222 obstetricians from the majority of Israeli hospitals. Directors were interviewed and completed a questionnaire about their department's cesarean delivery on maternal request policy, and obstetricians responded to a survey presenting case scenarios in which women requested cesarean delivery on maternal request.

Missed initial appointments at Israeli child development centres: Rate, reasons, and associated characteristics.

Introduction: Missed appointments (MAs) at child development centres (ChDCs) cause multiple problems: they preclude timely diagnosis and treatment of both the invited child and children whose appointment was delayed due to overbooking, as well as disrupting efficient organisational management. The aim of this study was to assess the rate and describe the reasons for missed appointments at Israeli ChDCs, and to evaluate the association of socio-demographic, clinical, and administrative variables with MA rates.

Methods: This nested case-control study included all children scheduled for initial appointments (N = 1143) at three centres during 1 year.

Obstetric and Neonatal Outcomes following COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnancy.

COVID-19 infection imposes a risk for pregnant individuals and may lead to adverse maternal and obstetric outcomes. This is a retrospective cohort study of all women giving birth between March and July 2021 at a single tertiary center. Obstetric and neonatal outcomes were compared between vaccinated and non-vaccinated pregnant women with singleton pregnancies.

Oncology Treatments during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Israel: the ONCOR Study.

Background: The increased susceptibility of cancer patients to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infections and complications calls for special precautions while treating cancer patients during COVID-19 pandemics. Thus, oncology departments have had to implement a wide array of prevention measures.

Objectives: To address issues associated with cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess the implementation of measures aimed at containment of COVID-19 diffusion while allowing continuation of quality cancer care.

Cognitive achievements in school-age children born following assisted reproductive technology treatments: A prospective study.

Background: While assisted reproductive technology is increasingly prevalent, there is concern amid conflicting findings reported regarding the long-term outcomes of children born following these treatments. The aim of this research was to investigate aspects of cognitive development in early school-age Israeli children born following assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments, compared to those spontaneously conceived (SC).

Method: This prospective follow-up study was based on an Israeli cohort recruited from June 2006 to December 2008, that included 561 women whose pregnancies were achieved by ART treatments and 600 women whose pregnancies were SC.

How Are They Doing? Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at School Age of Children Born Following Assisted Reproductive Treatments.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess major neurodevelopmental aspects of children conceived by assisted reproductive treatments compared to spontaneously conceived children during the early school years.

Material & Methods: In this follow-up study, mothers of 358 children born following assisted reproductive treatments and 401 spontaneously-conceived children were interviewed by telephone regarding their children's health and development, when the children were 7-8 years old. The main outcomes were maternal responses to 4 questionnaires: Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire, Short Sensory Profile, Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire, and the Attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) Child Symptom Inventory-4 subscale.

Cancer in IVF patients treated at age 40 years and older: long term follow-up.

Research Question: Current knowledge of cancer risk among women who undergo IVF is based mainly on studies of women treated in their thirties, frequently with short follow-up periods. Therefore, information about cancer risk among infertile menopausal women is limited. We aimed to evaluate the risk of cancer among IVF patients treated at age 40 years and older, followed up for an extended period.

Mobile Phone-Use Habits Among Adolescents: Predictors of Intensive Use.

Concern has been raised regarding the possible effects of mobile phone use on health, especially by children and adolescents. Thus, it is important to evaluate factors affecting their patterns of use. This study aimed to identify determinants of heavy mobile phone use among Israeli adolescents.

The effect of body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain on adverse obstetrical outcomes in pregnancies following assisted reproductive technology as compared to spontaneously conceived pregnancies.

Objective: To compare the effect of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and inappropriate gestational weight gain (GWG) on adverse obstetrical outcomes among women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments as compared to spontaneously-conceived (SC) pregnancies.

Methods: This prospective cohort study included 1058 pregnant women from two medical centres; 504 women who conceived following ART treatments and 554 who conceived spontaneously. The women were recruited at 8 weeks of gestation and follow-up telephone interviews were conducted 6 weeks after delivery.

When the Ideal Meets the Feasible: Constructing a Protocol for Developmental Assessment at Early School-Age.

To describe development of a methodology for an outcome study of children born following fertilization or spontaneously-conceived, as a model for defining normal and below-normal development of school-age children for research purposes. The main issues addressed were defining the major health and developmental domains to be investigated, selection of age-appropriate validated instruments, considering time constraints to maximize compliance, and budgetary limitations. The final protocol included a half-hour structured telephone interview with mothers of all 759 children and a 2-h developmental assessment of 294 of them.

A case-control study of caesarean delivery on maternal request: who and why?

Objective: The current study aimed to evaluate the profile of women who are most likely to undergo caesarean delivery on maternal request (CDMR) and clarify their reasons for this decision.

Methods: For this multicentre case-control study, data were collected from 429 women who underwent CDMR and 429 matched controls who delivered vaginally from June, 2008 through February, 2009. Participants were interviewed by telephone regarding sociodemographic variables, health and lifestyle.

Association between BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and survival in women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer.

Context: Approximately 10% of women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) carry deleterious germline mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2. A recent article suggested that BRCA2-related EOC was associated with an improved prognosis, but the effect of BRCA1 remains unclear.

Objective: To characterize the survival of BRCA carriers with EOC compared with noncarriers and to determine whether BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers show similar survival patterns.

Survey of familial glioma and role of germline p16INK4A/p14ARF and p53 mutation.

There is increasing recognition of familial propensity to glioma as a distinct clinical entity beyond a few rare syndromes; however its genetic basis is poorly understood. The role of p16(INK4A)/p14(ARF) and p53 mutations in sporadic glioma provides a strong rationale for investigating germline mutations in these genes as a cause of familial glioma. To survey the familial glioma phenotype and examine the contribution of germline mutation in p16(INK4A)/p14(ARF) and p53 to the disease we have analyzed a series of 101 index familial cases collected through the GLIOGENE Consortium (http://braintumor.

The effect of active immunization on varicella-related hospitalizations in Israel.

The purpose of this study is to report on the impact of introduction of the varicella vaccine "Varilix" on hospitalizations due to varicella, following licensure in Israel in June, 2000. Data on children hospitalized throughout Israel with the diagnosis of varicella were collected from 1998 until 2003. The national rate of varicella-related hospitalizations decreased during the period 2001-2002.

Effect of BRCA1/2 mutations on long-term survival of patients with invasive ovarian cancer: the national Israeli study of ovarian cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term survival of ovarian cancer (OvC) patients in total and by BRCA1/2 mutation status.

Patients And Methods: In a nationwide case-control study on OvC conducted in Israel between 1994 and 1999, 779 Jewish women with epithelial invasive OvC were tested for the three Ashkenazi Jewish founder mutations in BRCA1 (185delAG; 5382insC) and BRCA2 (6174delT) genes and followed for survival up to 2003. Of the 605 women of Ashkenazi origin, 213 (35.

Nosocomial bloodstream infections in a pediatric intensive care unit: 3-year survey.

Background: Bloodstream infections (BSI) represent a major cause of hospital-acquired infections in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients. This study was designed to determine the prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of these infections in one local facility.

Material/methods: All patients admitted to one PICU between January 1, 2000 - December 31, 2002 and subsequently developed a nosocomial bloodstream infection (NBSI) were consecutively recruited.

The impact of educational intervention programs on pain management in a pediatric emergency department.

Management of pain and anxiety is an important part of patient care in the pediatric emergency department (ED). Even though it has improved significantly over the past few years, it is still suboptimal. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of informal and formal education on pain and anxiety management in the pediatric ED.

Demographic and genetic characteristics of patients with borderline ovarian tumors as compared to early stage invasive ovarian cancer.

Objective: Evaluation whether Jewish founder mutations in BRCA predispose to borderline tumors as they do to early invasive ovarian cancers.

Methods: All Jewish women with borderline or invasive ovarian tumors, diagnosed over a 5-year period (1994-1999), were identified in the frame of a nationwide epidemiological study on ovarian cancer in Israel. Out of a total of 1489 patients, 1269 were interviewed; of them 256 (20.