Characteristics of diabetics with poor glycemic control who achieve good control.

Objective: To find the characteristics of diabetics with poorly controlled diabetes that became well controlled compared with the patients with poorly controlled diabetes that remained poorly controlled.

Methods: The sample included diabetic patients, aged 40 years and older, from the Central district of Clalit Health Service in Israel, with at least one HbA1c measure greater than 9.5 mg% during 2001.

Effect of the characteristics of family physicians on their utilisation of laboratory tests.

Background: The use of laboratory tests by family physicians has increased in recent years.

Aims: To evaluate the relationship between family physicians' characteristics and the number and type of laboratory tests requested, taking into account chronic diseases.

Design Of Study: Retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of motor vehicle accident victims in the community general health outpatient clinic: a comparison of PTSD and non-PTSD subjects.

Motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) are the leading cause of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the general population, often with enduring symptomatology. This study details epidemiological and clinical features that characterize PTSD among MVA victims living in a nonhospitalized community setting long after the MVA event, and includes exploration of premorbid and peritraumatic factors. MVA victims (n=60; 23 males, 37 females) identified from the registry of a community general health outpatient clinic during a 7-year period were administered an extensive structured battery of epidemiological, diagnostic and clinical ratings.

[The increase in requests for laboratory tests in the community--are there any effective intervention programs?].

In recent years there is a steady increase in requests for laboratory tests by primary care physicians. This increase does not necessarily have a diagnostic and therapeutic yield. There is a relationship between background characteristics of the family physicians and their utilization of laboratory tests.