Patient and physician characteristics affect adherence to screening mammography: A population-based cohort study.

Background: Screening mammograms are widely recommended biennially for women between the ages of 50 and 74. Despite the benefits of screening mammograms, full adherence to recommendations falls below 75% in most developed countries. Many studies have identified individual (obesity, smoking, socio-economic status, and co-morbid conditions) and primary-care physician parameters (physician age, gender, clinic size and cost) that influence adherence, but little data exists from large population studies regarding the interaction of these individual factors.

Higher body mass index in 16-19 year-old Jewish Adolescents of North African, Middle Eastern and European Origins is a Predictor of Acute Myeloid Leukemia: a cohort of 2.3 million Israelis.

Purpose: Studies evaluating adolescent risk factors for developing acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are virtually nonexistent. We assessed adolescent predictors of AML in adults, with a main focus on adolescent BMI.

Methods: The study included 2,310,922 16-19-year-old Jewish Israeli adolescents (mean age 17.

Cost-utility analysis of treating out of hospital cardiac arrests in Jerusalem.

Background: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) initiates a chain of responses including emergency medical service mobilization and medical treatment, transfer and admission first to a hospital Emergency Department (ED) and then usually to an intensive care unit and ward. Costly pre- and in-hospital care may be followed by prolonged post discharge expenditure on treatment of patients with severe neurological sequelae. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of treatment of OHCA by calculating the cost per Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY) averted.

The incidence of coronary heart disease among Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem.

Background: Lifestyle factors relevant to coronary risk factors differ between Palestinians and Israelis. Both have been exposed, albeit differently, to the stressors of the long-term conflict. We determined the incidence of coronary heart disease, previously unreported in Palestinians, in these Mediterranean populations and made international comparisons with the MONICA Programme.

Myocardial infarction occurrence in Jerusalem: a Mediterranean anomaly.

Background: The Jewish population of Israel consumes a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids with a relatively low proportion of saturated fat, has a small alcohol intake and a lipid profile characterized by low HDL-cholesterol and high lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)). It is therefore of interest to compare occurrence rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) with those elsewhere.

Methods: The community-based event rate of CHD [comprising acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and CHD death] and case-fatality was determined in 1995-1997 by active surveillance among Jewish residents of the Jerusalem District aged 25-64 according to standardized WHO-MONICA criteria.

Extending the boundaries of the Declaration of Helsinki: a case study of an unethical experiment in a non-medical setting.

To examine the ethical issues involved in governmental decisions with potential health risks, we review the history of the decision to raise the interurban speed limit in Israel in light of its impact on road death and injury. In 1993, the Israeli Ministry of Transportation initiated an "experiment" to raise the interurban speed limit from 90 to 100 kph. The "experiment" did not include a protocol and did not specify cut-off points for early termination in the case of adverse results.

Taq1B CETP polymorphism, plasma CETP, lipoproteins, apolipoproteins and sex differences in a Jewish population sample characterized by low HDL-cholesterol.

Mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations are low in the Jewish population of Israel. With this in mind we assessed the association of the Taq1B CETP polymorphism, plasma CETP mass and plasma lipid, lipoprotein and apolipoprotein concentrations in a sample of 884 Jerusalem residents aged 28-32. The allele frequency (0.

Birthweight recall by mothers of Israeli children.

The objective of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of maternally recalled birthweight (BW) in a population of 6-y-old children in Jerusalem. The study population consisted of 259 children entering the first grade in two schools in the city. We compare the recalled BW at entrance to school and the BW values as recorded in the Mother and Child Health Clinic of the Hadassah Community Health Center.

Lead poisoning: II. Biological standards for occupational lead exposure--where do we stand now?

Lead poisoning is an occupational and environmental disease of great public health concern. During the past two decades major efforts have been made in many countries to minimize exposure to lead both in the occupational and general environment. Blood lead concentrations at which adverse effects can be detected have become progressively lower.

Israel's expenditure on health services.

In 1986, the State of Israel utilized 7.6% of its gross national product (GNP) for health care. At first glance this seems to be a reasonable level of expenditure when compared with the percentage of GNP devoted to health care in eight selected industrialized non-communist nations.