[EPIDEMIOLOGY OF RITALIN PRESCRIPTION IN 6-18 YEARS OLD ISRAELI CHILDREN - TIME TO CHANGE POLICY].

Introduction: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a worldwide problem and treatment is controversial among physicians and parents.

Objectives: To clarify the prescribing of methylphenidate to children in the center of Israel, the use and possible effect that gender, socioeconomic status (SES), ethnic and cultural characteristics play in the treatment of ADHD.

Methods: We assessed the prescription rate of methylphenidate in the years 2005, 2007 and 2011 in children and adolescents age 6-18 years provided from Sharon Shomron and Dan Petach Tikva Clalit Health Services pharmacies.

[PREVALENCE OF IRON DEFICIENCY AND IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA IN INFANTS AGED 9 TO 15 MONTHS IN A LOW INCOME POPULATION (2005-2010)].

Background: Iron deficiency (ID) is a common nutritional deficiency.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and causes of ID and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and to report the iron status in Israeli Arab infants.

Methods: Data on iron status was taken from 410 infants, aged 9 to 15 months, who were randomly selected from 2400 infants born between 2005-2010.

The Lack of Association of Iron Deficiency With Anemia in First Graders.

Iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) is a disease with worldwide prevalence. The prevalence of IDA and iron deficiency (ID) was ascertained by serum ferritin and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) levels in first graders in Taibe. A total of 1132 first graders were tested for the iron status between the years 1999 and 2004.

Preventive intervention for iron deficiency anaemia in a high risk population.

Background: Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is a common nutritional problem.

Objective: To determine the effect of nutritional education and supplemental iron administration on the prevalence of IDA in Arab infants.

Methods: Three hundred and ten infants were randomized alternately into two groups.

Changing Epidemiology of Methylphenidate Prescriptions in the Community: A Multifactorial Model.

Objective: To examine dispensing patterns of methylphenidate (MPH) to determine how socioeconomic status (SES), ethnocultural affiliation, and gender affect the medical treatment of ADHD.

Method: We reviewed MPH prescription records for year 2011 of children aged 6 to 18, from regional pharmacies serving homogeneous neighborhoods.

Results: MPH prescriptions showed an increase in prevalence from 4.

[Reported practices of antimicrobial use for upper respiratory tract infections].

Aim: To determine the reported antibiotic prescribing practices for upper respiratory tract infections in children among pediatricians and family physicians.

Methods: Regional survey of practicing pediatricians and family physicians and comparison of the survey responses of 81 physicians with the recently published recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Results: Whereas almost all the physicians agreed that a diagnosis of acute otitis media required documentation of middle ear effusion and acute illness, 28% of family physicians and 12% of pediatricians reported that they routinely prescribed antibiotics for children with bronchitis, even though this is not recommended.

The impact of consanguinity worldwide.

Consanguineous marriages have been practiced for hundreds of years in many parts of the world. The rate of congenital malformations among the offspring is 2.5 times higher than that among the offspring of unrelated parents, mainly due to the expression of autosomal-recessive disorders, and hospitalization for these reasons causes a major financial burden.

Awareness of folic acid for prevention of neural tube defects in a community with high prevalence of consanguineous marriages.

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are severe congenital malformations and can be fatal. Intake of 0.4 mg folic in the periconceptional period reduces the risk of NTD by 50-70%.

Facial clefting in an Arab town in Israel.

To study the prevalence of cleft palate and cleft lip with or without cleft palate in an Israeli Arab town, questionnaires were sent to the parents of 1375 pupils in grades 1 and 2 in all seven primary schools in the town of Taibe, and 1281 responded. The information requested included data about siblings and members of the parental generation to give a total of 16 174, and the presence of consanguinity and history of exposure to medication, radiation, smoking or alcohol during pregnancy. There were four affected individuals among the index cases, of whom two had cleft palate only and two cleft lip with cleft palate, giving prevalence rates for each of these of 1.

Close association of HLA-B52 and HLA-B44 antigens in Israeli Arab adolescents with recurrent aphthous stomatitis.

Objectives: To investigate the incidence and clinical features of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) among Israeli Arab adolescents and to determine the HLA typing profile in affected subjects.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Junior high school in the largest Arab town in Israel.

Trends in the frequencies of consanguineous marriages in the Israeli Arab community.

To assess the trends in the frequency of consanguineous marriages in the Israeli Arab population in the last 40 years, we conducted a two-part study. For the first part, we re-analyzed data from a nationwide study carried out in 1992, and for the second part, we undertook a new survey in 1998 in four locations: Taibe, Tira, Kalansuwa and Kafr Bara. Data regarding the frequency of consanguineous marriage in these four locations for the years 1961-1985 was extracted from the original survey, and for the years 1986-1998, from new questionnaires.