Epilepsy and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were reported to co-occur at rates higher than expected for coincidental findings. This study investigated the prevalence of both disorders in community-based primary care practice. The central database of the second-largest health maintenance organization in Israel was searched for all children aged 6 to 13 years (n = 284 419; 51.5% males) diagnosed as having ADHD according to the physicians' records and/or the filling of at least 10 prescriptions for antiepileptic medications according to pharmacy records. The prevalence of epilepsy in the total population was 5 out of 1000 children, and the prevalence of ADHD was 12.6%. More than one-fourth (27.7%) of the epileptic children were also diagnosed as having ADHD. On multivariate analysis, children with ADHD had almost twice the risk of epilepsy than children without ADHD. This study supports hospital-based findings of a strong interrelationship between ADHD and epilepsy. The high rate of ADHD in Israeli children warrants further investigation.

BACKGROUND: Health care quality indicators encourage outreach programs for screening the elderly who do not voluntarily visit their primary care physician (PCP). The characteristics of this population, however, have never been rigorously studied. The aim of this study was therefore to characterize the demography and health status of the elderly who do not visit PCPs. METHODS: A retrospective database study was carried out in the central district of Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) in Israel. People aged 65-100 years were included, excluding those who were registered for home-care treatment. The elderly who did not initiate a PCP visit during October 2007-October 2009 were compared to those who visited a PCP during this period, in terms of demographic characteristics, health services utilization, and major chronic diseases, using the computerized MHS database. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 32,523 elderly, 1663 (5.1%) of whom had not visited PCP for at least two years (October 2007 - October 2009). The non-consulters were, on average, older, included more women and tended to have lower socio-economic class. They had fewer hospitalizations, used less prescribed medications, consulted secondary physicians less frequently and had less laboratory tests and imaging. In line with these findings, only 29% of the non-consulters were diagnosed with a chronic condition, compared with 91% of consulters. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that as a group, the older Israelis who do not initiate PCP visits are healthier than those who do. Given the high workload of PCPs in Israel, these findings do not support investing considerable efforts in reaching out to the elderly who do not voluntarily initiate PCP visits.

AIM: To longitudinally assess the neurodevelopmental outcomes of late preterm infants (LPI) through the first year of life and to investigate for perinatal conditions that may affect developmental outcomes. METHODS: The study population comprised of 124 LPI, born in a single Israeli inborn center over an eight months period. Thirty-three term infants (TI) were recruited for comparison. Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) for gross motor evaluation was performed at 6 months of age and the Griffiths Mental Development Scales (GMDS) were performed at 12 months (chronological age). Maternal and neonatal covariates, potentially associated with low developmental scores, were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: At chronological age of 6 and 12 months, LPI performed significantly lower than TI on all subscales, but when scores were corrected for post conception age, developmental scores were similar in the two groups. In a multivariate model of logistic regression, male gender, emergent cesarean section and higher maternal education (>14 years) were found to be associated with increased risk for lower developmental scores at 12 month of age in LPI. CONCLUSIONS: LPI do not complete their neurodevelopmental maturation by the first year of life. Males and those born after emergent cesarean section (CS) are at increased risk for lower developmental scores. Correction of age to term birth in LPI may still be needed at this age.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the adherence and persistence with allopurinol therapy among gout patients and to identify risk factors for therapy discontinuation. METHODS: The study population included adults in Maccabi Healthcare Services, a 2-million member health maintenance organization in Israel, who were diagnosed with gout between 2002 and 2008. Adherence with allopurinol was retrospectively assessed by calculating the proportion of days covered of dispensed prescriptions. Persistence was assessed by calculating the mean proportion of follow-up days covered with allopurinol for every study participant. RESULTS: A total of 7644 patients were identified. Among men, the incidence of gout was strongly associated with age, ranging from 0.5 per 1000 among adults younger than 45 years to more than 36 per 1000 among elderly men aged 85 or older). A total of 1331 gout patients (17% of the study population) were adherent to allopurinol therapy, 36% and 47% had partial and poor adherence, respectively. Persistence analysis indicated that the average duration until therapy was discontinued was similar among men (358 days) and women (379 days). Women aged 45-64 years, non-married individuals, those of low socioeconomic status and those with lower body weight were more likely to discontinue therapy. Logistic regression (n = 2471, 32% of the study sample) showed a 4.5 risk of non-compliance among 45- to 65-year-old women. Better compliance was achieved among those with comorbidities, particularly among patients with concomitant cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSION: Only one out of six gout patients is adherent with allopurinol. Intervention programmes to increase adherence with treatment should focus on high-risk populations.

Dendritic cells are potent antigen-presenting cells, common in inflammatory processes. We sought to investigate dendritic cell expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma and the relationship of dendritic cell density with the extent of thyroiditis and prognosis. Specimens from 69 consecutive patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were immunohistochemically stained for the S100 protein, and the number of positive dendritic cells was counted. Cells were sparse in normal thyroid tissue and common in areas of thyroiditis and papillary carcinoma. Dendritic cell density in papillary carcinoma correlated with the thyroiditis grade and dendritic cell density in surrounding areas of thyroiditis. High-grade thyroiditis (42% of patients) was inversely associated with 3-year recurrence. Dendritic cell density was not associated with disease-free survival. The lack of prognostic value of dendritic cell density is not compliant with the only other relevant study in the literature, and further research is required.

We describe a survey of children with ASD aged 4-10 years. The main dependent variables were out-of-pocket expenditures for health services and hours of therapy. Multivariable logistic regression models were used in order to find independent predictors for service utilization. Parents of 178 of the children (87 %) agreed to participate. The average annual out-of-pocket cost was $8,288, with a median of $4,473 and a range of $0-89,754. Higher severity of ASD and a parent with an academic degree were associated with higher expenditure. Having at least one older sibling, siblings without developmental disorders, regular education setting, lower parent education and low income were associated with lower expenditure.

Infection might be associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and arterial thrombosis. Specific hypotheses have been raised regarding the procoagulant response induced by acute cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Accordingly, we investigated the 6-month incidence of VTE and/or arterial thrombosis in patients that had been tested positive for CMV-IgM antibodies in a large health maintenance organization. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors for VTE and arterial thrombosis. Among 90,515 patients eligible for the VTE analysis and 90,805 patients eligible for the arterial thrombosis analysis, 6,205 (6.9%) and 6,222 (6.9%) patients were tested positive for CMV-IgM antibodies, respectively. During 6 months of follow-up from index date, the incidence rates per 1,000 capita of VTE among CMV-IgM seropositive and CMV-IgM seronegative patients were 3.06 (19 patients) and 1.36 (115 patients), respectively (odds ratio (OR) 2.25; 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 1.38-3.66; p = 0.003). CMV-IgM seropositivity was independently associated with VTE appearance (OR 2.49; 95% CI 1.53-4.06; p < 0.0001) following adjustment for age, sex, and other confounders. The incidence rates per 1,000 capita of arterial thrombosis among CMV-IgM seropositive and CMV-IgM seronegative patients were 1.12 (7 patients) and 1.06 (90 patients), respectively (OR 1.06; 95% CI 0.49-2.28; p = 0.840). CMV-IgM seropositivity was not associated with arterial thrombosis. We conclude that acute CMV infection might be associated with an increased short-term VTE risk. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest study ever to confirm this association.

BACKGROUND: Anemia on admission and during hospitalization is associated with poor short and long term prognosis among patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Our objective was to examine the prognostic implications of longitudinal hemoglobin (Hb) levels following a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: We utilized data obtained from the computerized database of a large community based health care maintenance organization to identify patients who survived for at least 6 months following a first AMI, during the years 2003-2010. Hazard ratios were calculated using Cox proportional regression models with various Hb measurements as dependent variables, and net reclassification improvement (NRI) was applied to evaluate the prognostic usefulness of these Hb measurements. RESULTS: Last Hb measurement during a 6-24 month follow-up period was found to have the highest prognostic power. In males, Hb levels below 13 g/dL were gradually associated with a higher risk of events, reaching a HR of 4.13 at Hb levels <11 g/dL. In females, only Hb levels lower than 11 g/dL were significantly associated with a higher event rate (HR=2.42, p=0.003). Hb decrease was significantly associated with an increased risk in both genders, even among non-anemic patients at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Anemia and Hb decrement following a first AMI are associated with worse prognosis and elevated risk of combined all cause mortality and recurrent cardiac events.