Facilitators and barriers to smoking cessation among minority men using the behavioral-ecological model and Behavior Change Wheel: A concept mapping study.

Background And Aim: Universal smoking cessation strategies are not always successful for minorities, among whom smoking is highly prevalent despite high intention to quit. This study identifies facilitators for smoking cessation, as perceived by minority male smokers, that can inform a culturally appropriate national plan for smoking prevention and cessation.

Methods: We conducted in 2013 a three-stage study among Arab minority male current and former smokers (ages 18-64) in Israel, among whom smoking is very high: first, a Concept Mapping (CM) study with 102 and 202 participants in the brainstorming, and sorting and rating phases respectively.

Thirty years of HIV in Israel: current epidemiology and future challenges.

Objective: The HIV/AIDS burden in Israel is increasing. This study aims to describe the nationwide-HIV epidemiology in the last 30 years and highlight areas of concern in HIV/AIDS control.

Design: Descriptive study.

A health in all policies approach to promote active, healthy lifestyle in Israel.

In December 2011, Israel launched the National Program to Promote Active, Healthy Lifestyle, an inter-ministerial, intersectoral effort to address obesity and its contribution to the country's burden of chronic disease. This paper explores the National Program according to the "Health in All Policies" (HiAP) strategy for health governance, designed to engage social determinants of health and curb health challenges at the causal level. Our objective is twofold: to identify where Israel's National Program both echoes and falls short of Health in All Policies, and to assess how the National Program can be utilized to enrich the Health in All Policies research-base.

Persistent high rates of smoking among Israeli Arab males with concomitant decrease among Jews.

Background: During the last few decades much effort has been invested into lowering smoking rates due to its heavy burden on the population's health and on costs for the health care services.

Objectives: To compare trends in smoking rates between adult Arab men and Jewish men and women during 2000-2008.

Methods: Six random telephone surveys were conducted by the Israel Center for Disease Control in 2000-2008 to investigate smoking rates.

Clinical characteristics and outcome of familial nonmedullary thyroid cancer: a retrospective controlled study.

Background: Familial nonmedullary thyroid cancer (FNMTC) is a disease defined by clustering of thyroid cancers of follicular cell origin, and it is estimated to account for 5% of all thyroid cancers. Several studies found FNMTC to be more aggressive than sporadic disease, whereas others found them to have a similar course and outcome. The purpose of this study was to determine whether FNMTC is more aggressive than sporadic thyroid cancer.

Impact of pregnancy on outcome and prognosis of survivors of papillary thyroid cancer.

Background: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) commonly affects women of child-bearing age. During normal pregnancy, several factors may have a stimulatory effect on normal and nodular thyroid growth. The aim of the study was to determine whether pregnancy in thyroid-cancer survivors poses a risk of progression or recurrence of the disease.

Extreme and acquiescence bias in a bi-ethnic population.

Background: Extreme and acquiescence biases are the tendency to give a positive or extreme answer regardless of the 'true' answer. These biases may compromise comparisons of attitudes regarding health between population groups. The aim of the study was to measure the extent of extreme and acquiescence biases and identify factors associated with them in two ethnic groups: Jews and Arabs in Israel.

Illness perception in patients with differentiated epithelial cell thyroid cancer.

Background: Patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) usually have a good prognosis but may experience a decline in quality of life (QOL). The way patients perceive their illness may have a major impact on their QOL. Our hypothesis was that patients with DTC frequently perceive their illness as much more severe than its objective clinical characteristics indicate.

Well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma: comparison of microscopic and macroscopic disease.

Background: The rapid increase in the incidence of well-differentiated thyroid cancer in recent years is the result of smaller thyroid tumors (1 cm or less) being diagnosed more frequently. Few studies are available regarding the appropriate approach to this previously known postmortem incidental finding, and their results remain controversial.

Methods: In 2005, our center started a registry of all patients with nonmedullary thyroid carcinoma who were followed at our institute.

Individual-level analysis of social capital and health: a comparison of Arab and Jewish Israelis.

Discrepancies exist in existing research regarding the association between social capital and self-rated health, most of which has been undertaken in the developed world. The aim of this study is first to assess the levels of the various variables describing individual social capital in Jews and Arab residing in Israel, and second to assess the association between individual social capital and self-rated health in these two population groups. The data were obtained from an Israeli health interview survey (knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP)) conducted during 2004-2005, which is based on 3,365 interviews with adult Jews and 985 adult Arabs.

Health promotion competencies for the Israeli workforce.

Health promotion competencies can help inform health promotion training and practice. Competency sets have been developed in countries with formal educational, professional and policy infrastructures for health promotion, but little action has occurred in countries where such infrastructures are only emerging. This study examines the views of Israeli health promotion practitioners about the competencies relevant for health promotion practice and compares them with the perceptions held by their Australian counterparts.

[Cushing disease: long-term follow-up after transsphenoidal surgery].

Background: Cushing's syndrome due to an ACTH-secreting pituitary tumor is associated with serious morbidity and mortality. As there is no definitive medical treatment, surgical removal of the tumor via the transsphenoidal route remains the first choice. Postoperative hypocortisolemia is recognized as the best indicator of cure.