Methodology and challenges for harmonization of nutritional data from seven historical studies.

Background: Collection of detailed dietary data is labor intensive and expensive, harmonization of existing data sets has been proposed as an effective tool for research questions in which individual studies are underpowered.

Methods: In this paper, we describe the methodology used to retrospectively harmonize nutritional data from multiple sources, based on the individual participant data of all available studies, which collected nutritional data in Israel between 1963 and 2014. This collaboration was established in order to study the association of red and processed meat with colorectal cancer.

A historical cohort study with 27,754 individuals on the association between meat consumption and gastrointestinal tract and colorectal cancer incidence.

In order to explore the association between meat consumption and gastrointestinal/colorectal cancer (CRC) risk and to estimate the Israeli population attributable fraction (PAF), we conducted a collaborative historical cohort study using the individual participant data of seven nutritional studies from the past 6 decades. We included healthy adult men and women who underwent a nutritional interview. Dietary assessment data, using food-frequency or 24-h recall questionnaires, were harmonized.

The Reliability and Validity of the OneStep Smartphone Application for Gait Analysis among Patients Undergoing Rehabilitation for Unilateral Lower Limb Disability.

An easy-to-use and reliable tool is essential for gait assessment of people with gait pathologies. This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the OneStep smartphone application compared to the C-Mill-VR+ treadmill (Motek, Nederlands), among patients undergoing rehabilitation for unilateral lower extremity disability. Spatiotemporal gait parameters were extracted from the treadmill and from two smartphones, one on each leg.

A historical cohort study on predictors for successful weaning from prolonged mechanical ventilation and up to 3-year survival follow-up in a rehabilitation center.

Background: We followed prolonged mechanically ventilated (PMV) patients for weaning attempts and explored factors associated with successful weaning and long-term survival.

Methods: This historical cohort study included all adult PMV patients admitted to a single rehabilitation hospital during 2015-2018 and followed for survival according to weaning success up to 3 years or the end of 2021.

Results: The study included 223 PMV patients.

Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists and Pancreatic Cancer Risk in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.

Importance: Concerns have been raised that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Objective: To investigate the association of GLP-1RA treatment with pancreatic cancer incidence over 9 years of follow-up.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this population-based historical cohort study, adult patients (aged 21 to 89 years) with type 2 diabetes insured by Clalit Healthcare Services, the largest state-mandated health organization in Israel, were followed up from 2009, when GLP-1RA became available in Israel, until pancreatic cancer diagnosis, death, reaching age 90 years, or end of follow-up (December 2017).

Reverse causation biases weighted cumulative exposure model estimates, but can be investigated in sensitivity analyses.

Objectives: To examine the effects of reverse causation on estimates from the weighted cumulative exposure (WCE) model that is used in pharmacoepidemiology to explore drug-health outcome associations, and to identify sensitivity analyses for revealing such effects.

Study Design And Setting: 314,099 patients with diabetes under Clalit Health Services, Israel, were followed over 2002-2012. The association between metformin and pancreatic cancer (PC) was explored using a WCE model within the framework of discrete-time Cox regression.

Is health-related quality of life 1-year after coronary artery bypass graft surgery associated with living in a greener environment?

Introduction: Greenery in the residential environment and in the hospital has been associated with improved surgical outcomes and recovery. We investigated the association between the level of residential greenness of patients with coronary disease and their heart disease-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) 1-year after a coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery.

Methods: Participants in a prospective cohort study who underwent CABG surgery at seven cardiothoracic units throughout Israel during the years 2004-2007 filled in the MacNew HRQoL one day before and one year after surgery.

Metformin Treatment Among Men With Diabetes and the Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Population-Based Historical Cohort Study.

There is conflicting evidence regarding the association between metformin treatment and prostate cancer risk in diabetic men. We investigated this association in a population-based Israeli cohort of 145,617 men aged 21-89 years with incident diabetes who were followed over the period 2002-2012. We implemented a time-dependent covariate Cox model, using weighted cumulative exposure to relate metformin history to prostate cancer risk, adjusting for use of other glucose-lowering medications, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

Metformin Treatment and Cancer Risk: Cox Regression Analysis, With Time-Dependent Covariates, of 320,000 Persons With Incident Diabetes Mellitus.

There is conflicting evidence regarding the association between metformin use and cancer risk in diabetic patients. During 2002-2012, we followed a cohort of 315,890 persons aged 21-87 years with incident diabetes who were insured by the largest health maintenance organization in Israel. We used a discrete form of weighted cumulative metformin exposure to evaluate the association of metformin with cancer incidence.

Cancer prevalence in Israeli men and women with schizophrenia.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare cancer prevalence rates among patients with schizophrenia to those of the non-schizophrenia population. The study population included members of Clalit Health Services aged 25 to 74 years and all data was taken from patients' electronic health records. Of the 2,060,314 members who were included in the study, 32,748 had a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Methylphenidate enhances cognitive performance in adults with poor baseline capacities regardless of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis.

We compare the view that the effect of methylphenidate (MPH) is selective to individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with an alternative approach suggesting that its effect is more prominent for individuals with weak baseline capacities in relevant cognitive tasks. To evaluate theses 2 approaches, we administered sustained attention, working memory, and decision-making tasks to 20 ADHD adults and 19 control subjects, using a within-subject placebo-controlled design. The results demonstrated no main effects of MPH in the decision-making tasks.

Non-specific effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) on cognitive ability and decision-making of ADHD and healthy adults.

Introduction: The effect of a single dose of methylphenidate (MPH) on cognitive measures and decision-making processes was assessed in a sample of adults with ADHD and in a control sample.

Methods: Thirty-two adults satisfying DSM-IV criteria for ADHD and 26 healthy controls performed several cognitive tasks. Half of the participants received MPH prior to performing the tasks, and the other half received placebo in a randomized, double-blind manner.

Ultimatum bargaining behavior of people affected by schizophrenia.

Forty-nine people suffering from schizophrenia performed an interactive bargaining task involving small monetary rewards, known in classical game theory as the Ultimatum Game. In this task, the subject, in the role of the Proposer, has to offer his or her (anonymous) counterpart, the Responder, a share of a given sum of money. If the Responder accepts the offer, then the sum is split accordingly between the two.