{"title":"Expert opinion survey on Israel's food system: implications for food and health policies.","authors":"Emily Soh, Elliot M Berry, Eran Feitelson","doi":"10.1186/s13584-024-00590-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-024-00590-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>While there has been increasing global recognition and impetus for action to transform food systems towards greater food security, sustainability and better health outcomes, Israel has only recently begun to focus on the diverse challenges of its food system and its potential for transformation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An expert opinion survey (n = 50) on Israel's food system was conducted as part of a larger study on the systemic features of Israel's food system transition to understand its policy gaps and find strategies towards a healthy and sustainable food system. The survey ranks the relevance and importance of food system challenges and policy preferences. Policy implications are then examined by identifying potential priorities, gaps and dissensus.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The survey finds that there is a majority agreement (76%) that Israel's food policies are lacking or severely lacking. Respondents relate strongly to both concepts of nutritional security (90% think that access to nutritious food is relevant or highly relevant) and national food security (more than 80% perceive food security as part of national security). Respondents overwhelmingly recognize the benefits of Israeli agriculture with 60-90% agreeing or strongly agreeing that it benefits food security, economic value and national identity. Top-ranked problems include overall systemic problems such as the lack of national goals, strategic planning, and integrated policymaking across ministries, and specific ones such as food waste, costly farming inputs, and food affordability. The most preferred policy actions include establishing a national strategy for food and agriculture, making food affordable for vulnerable households, and incentivising sustainable farming methods. The key policy gaps include the lack of resilience in agriculture and the food system, insufficient data and knowledge for policy action, inadequate attention to the regulation of the food industry for better health and inadequate food policy attention for minority groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Building on this study's findings, further policy research and implementation areas to be covered include government responsibility for universal food security, strategic systemic policies for food systems, prevention and preparedness for future crises, and promoting resilience. The way forward may best be through an inter-ministerial committee with the responsibility, budgets, mandate and executive authority to plan data-driven policies for a sustainable food system for Israel's future.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10789065/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139472635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The association of medical, social, and normative factors with the implementation of end-of-life care practices.","authors":"Arnona Ziv, Adir Shaulov, Carmit Rubin, Bernice Oberman, Yoel Tawil, Giora Kaplan, Baruch Velan, Moran Bodas","doi":"10.1186/s13584-024-00589-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-024-00589-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>End-of-life (EoL) care practices (EoLCP) are procedures carried out at the EoL and bear directly on this stage in the patient's life. Public support of these practices in Israel is far from uniform. Previous studies show that while ∼30% of participants support artificial respiration or feeding of terminally ill patients, 66% support analgesic treatment, even at the risk of shortening life. This study aimed to create a typology of six end-of-life care practices in Israel and assess the association of medical, social, and normative factors with the implementation of those practices. These practices included mechanical ventilation, artificial feeding, deep sedation, providing information to the patient and family caregivers, including family caregivers in EoL decision-making, and opting for death at home.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-sectional study was performed as an online survey of 605 adults aged 50 or more in Israel, of which ~ 50% (n = 297) reported supporting a dying terminally ill relative in the last 3 years. Participants were requested to provide their account of the EoL process of their relative dying from a terminal illness in several aspects, as well as the EoL care practices utilized by them.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The accounts of the 297 interviewees who supported a dying relative reveal a varied EoL typology. The utilization of end-of-life care practices was associated with the socio-normative beliefs of family caregivers but not with their socioeconomic status. Strong correlations were found between family caregiver support for three key practices (mechanical ventilation, artificial feeding, and family involvement in EoL) and the actual utilization of these practices in the care of dying patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The findings portray an important image of equity in the utilization of EoLCP in Israel, as the use of these practices was not associated with socioeconomic status. At the same time, the study found substantial diversity in family caregivers' preferences regarding EoL care practices use not related to socioeconomic status. We believe that differences in preferences that do not lead to problems with equity or other important societal values should be respected. Accordingly, policymakers and health system leaders should resist calls for legislation that would impose uniform EoL practices for all Israelis. Instead, they should take concrete steps to preserve and enhance the widespread current practice of practitioners to adapt EoL care to the varied needs and preferences of Israeli families and cultural, social, and religious subgroups. These steps should include providing frameworks and tools for family caregivers to support their loved ones close to their deaths, such as educational programs, seminars, supportive care before and during the end of life of their loved ones, etc.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10775651/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139404762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michal Duvdevani, Galit Yogev-Seligmann, Ilana Schlesinger, Maria Nassar, Ilana Erich, Rafi Hadad, Michal Kafri
{"title":"Association of health behaviors with function and health-related quality of life among patients with Parkinson's disease.","authors":"Michal Duvdevani, Galit Yogev-Seligmann, Ilana Schlesinger, Maria Nassar, Ilana Erich, Rafi Hadad, Michal Kafri","doi":"10.1186/s13584-023-00588-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-023-00588-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Current evidence on chronic conditions favors promotion of health behaviors as a mean to positively impact health outcomes. In Parkinson's disease, performing health behaviors is indicated as a means to fight the long-lasting burden of the disease. Understanding actual engagement in health behaviors and patient activation and their association to function and health-related quality of life is therefore important. Our objectives were, among people with Parkinson's disease: (1) to characterize health behaviors including utilization of rehabilitative treatments, physical activity, and patient activation levels, and (2) to test the associations between these health behaviors and health outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study of 88 people with Parkinson's disease (age 66.84 ± 8.8) was conducted. Participants answered questionnaires measuring health behaviors including utilization of health professions treatments, physical activity, patient activation, and health outcomes consisting of function and health-related quality of life. Linear regression models were conducted to test associations between measured health behaviors, function and health-related quality of life.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants rarely engage in rehabilitative treatments, but showed high levels of patient activation. Controlled by demographics and disease severity, physical activity and patient activation were associated with function (b = 0.41, p < .001; b = 0.2, p = .02, respectively) and physical activity but not patient activation, which was associated with health-related quality of life (b = 0.19, p = .03). There was also interaction effects of physical activity and non-motor symptoms, and physical activity and motor symptoms on health-related quality of life (b = 0.19, p = .02 and b = - 0.22, p = .01, respectively).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In respect to their potential health-related benefits for people with Parkinson's disease, health professionals' treatments are underutilized. Findings supported the importance of health behaviors for maintaining function and health-related quality of life among people with Parkinson's disease. They also show a differential contribution of motor and non-motor symptoms to the association between physical activity and quality of life. It is suggested that policy makers encourage opportunities for physical activity tailored for people with Parkinson's disease and adopt a proactive stance towards enhancing awareness and use of rehabilitation services. Trial registration NCT05211700, ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05211700 first release 12/30/2021, https://classic.</p><p><strong>Clinicaltrials: </strong>gov/ct2/show/NCT05211700.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10763356/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139089021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Weight stigma in healthcare settings: the experience of Arab and Jewish bariatric surgery candidates in Israel.","authors":"Yara Zahra-Zeitoun, Roni Elran-Barak, Rawan Salameh-Dakwar, Dvir Froylich, Gideon Sroka, Ahmed Assalia, Yael Latzer","doi":"10.1186/s13584-023-00587-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-023-00587-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Weight-related stigma and discrimination are prevalent in our society with adverse biopsychosocial outcomes to people with obesity and morbid obesity. Studies suggest that weight bias in healthcare settings are quite prevalent, but there have been, as far as we know, lack of studies examining prevalence and correlates of weight bias experiences among bariatric surgery candidates in Israel. We aim to understand the nature and prevalence of weight stigma among bariatric surgery candidates. To identify differences between Jewish and Arab candidates. To examine the impact of weight stigma experiences on weight bias internalization (WBI).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study was performed among 117 adult bariatric surgery candidates from three hospitals in northern Israel (47.8% Jews, 82.4% females, average BMI 42.4 ± 5.2 Kg/meter<sup>2</sup>). Patients who agreed to participate completed a structured questionnaire on the same day that the bariatric surgery committee met. WBI was measured using a validated 10-item scale. Experiences of weight stigma were measured using items adapted from prior international studies.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>About two thirds of the participants had at least one experience of weight stigma (teased, treated unfairly, or discriminated against because of their weight). As many as 75% of participants reported that weight served as a barrier to getting appropriate health care and as many as half of participants felt in the last year that a doctor judged them because of their weight. No significant differences were found between Arabs and Jews in the prevalence of weight stigma experiences and WBI. However, a trend towards more stigma experiences among Jews was noted. WBI was predicted by female gender and experiences of weight stigma, both in general and within healthcare settings.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Weight stigma towards bariatric surgery candidates in Israel is quite prevalent, and specifically in healthcare settings. It is important to adopt policy actions and intervention programs to improve awareness to this phenomenon among the general public and specifically among healthcare providers, as many healthcare providers may be unaware of the adverse effect of weight stigma and of ways in which they are contributing to the problem. Future studies may validate our findings using larger sample size and longitudinal design.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10759645/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139089022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Irena Girshovitz, Guy Amit, Inbal Goldshtein, Deena R Zimmerman, Ravit Baruch, Pinchas Akiva, Meytal Avgil Tsadok, Yair Sadaka
{"title":"Increased rates of unattained developmental milestones among Israeli children between 2016 and 2020: a national report.","authors":"Irena Girshovitz, Guy Amit, Inbal Goldshtein, Deena R Zimmerman, Ravit Baruch, Pinchas Akiva, Meytal Avgil Tsadok, Yair Sadaka","doi":"10.1186/s13584-023-00586-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-023-00586-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The early years of children's lives are critical for their healthy development. Although children's growth and development rates may vary, a significant delay during early childhood could indicate a medical or a developmental disorder. Developmental surveillance is used worldwide by healthcare providers in routine encounters, as well as by educators and parents, to elicit concerns about child development. In this work, we used a national dataset of developmental assessments to describe temporal trends of milestone attainment rates and associations between milestone attainment and various sociodemographic factors.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study included 1,002,700 children ages birth until 6 years with 4,441,689 developmental visits between the years 2016 and 2020. We used the Israeli developmental scale to assess the annual rates of failure to attain language, social and motoric milestones by the entire population, as well as by subgroups stratified by sociodemographic factors. In addition, we evaluated the rates of parental concern for child development and of the nurse's report of development inadequate for age. We used multivariable logistic regression to analyze the impact of different sociodemographic factors on the odds of failure to attain milestones, while controlling for confounding.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Milestone failure rates progressively increased over the examined years in all developmental domains, and most prominently in the language domain. Conversely, the rates of parental concern for developmental delay remained constant. In multivariable analysis, higher risk of milestone attainment failure was observed in children whose mothers were divorced, unemployed, immigrant, had lower education, of Bedouin origin or were over 40 years old when giving birth.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This report describes national trends of child development in the gross motor, fine motor, language, and social domains. A periodic report of these trends should be published to objectively evaluate subgroups in need for intervention, and to assess the effectiveness of intervention programs in attempt to maximize the developmental potential of children in Israel.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10740256/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138832253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Association between parental smoking and child exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in Israel.","authors":"Tamar Berman, Efrat Rorman, Luda Groisman, Lital Keinan-Boker, Tal Shimony, Zohar Barnett-Itzhaki","doi":"10.1186/s13584-023-00585-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-023-00585-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure in children can cause delayed lung development and lifelong cardiovascular damage. The aim of this study was to measure ETS exposure in children in Israel in 2020-2021 using urinary cotinine (UC) measurements and to assess correlates of ETS exposure, including parental smoking.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In the framework of the National Human Biomonitoring Program, spot urine samples and questionnaire data were collected from 166 children aged 4-12 years, during the years 2020-2021. We collected urine samples in 233 adults, 69 of whom were parents of children included in the study. Parents of participating children were asked about parental smoking, child's exposure to ETS and smoking policy at home. Cotinine and creatinine were measured in urine. Creatinine-adjusted and unadjusted urine cotinine (UC) geometric means were calculated. Associations between potential correlates and UC concentrations were analyzed in univariate and multivariate analyses. For 69 child-parent pairs, correlation between child and parental UC was analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Based on urinary cotinine measurement, 65.2% of children of smokers are exposed to ETS, compared to 20.7% of children in non-smoking families. Greater numbers of smokers living in the home (beta = 1.27, p < 0.01), and low maternal education (beta = - 2.32, p < 0.01) were associated with higher levels of UC in a multivariate analysis. Spearman correlations showed a positive moderate correlation between UC in 69 child-parent pairs (r = 0.52, p < 0.01).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In order to reduce child exposure to ETS, smoking parents should be urgently targeted for smoking cessation and smoke-free home interventions. Further interventions are needed to protect all children from ETS.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10731699/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138812316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ligat Shalev, Christian D Helfrich, Moriah Ellen, Keren Avirame, Renana Eitan, Adam J Rose
{"title":"Bridging language barriers in developing valid health policy research tools: insights from the translation and validation process of the SHEMESH questionnaire.","authors":"Ligat Shalev, Christian D Helfrich, Moriah Ellen, Keren Avirame, Renana Eitan, Adam J Rose","doi":"10.1186/s13584-023-00583-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-023-00583-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The use of research tools developed and validated in one cultural and linguistic context to another often faces challenges. One major challenge is poor performance of the tool in the new context. This potentially impact the legitimacy of health policy research conducted with informal adaptations of existing tools which have not been subjected to formal validation. Best practices exist to guide researchers in adapting and validating research tools effectively. We present here, as an extended example, our validation of the SHEMESH questionnaire ('Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment'; In Hebrew: 'SHE'elon Muchanut Ergunit le'SHinuy'), a Hebrew-language version of the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment (ORCA). SHEMESH is tailored to support implementation science projects, whose aim is to promote a more rapid and complete adoption of evidence-based health policies and practices.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The SHEMESH included originally eleven questions from the Evidence (item 1-4) and Context (items 5-11) domains. We validated SHEMESH through the following steps: 1. Professional translation to Hebrew and discussion of the translation by multidisciplinary committee; 2. Back-translation into English by a different translator to detect discrepancies; 3. Eleven cognitive interviews with psychiatric emergency department physicians and nurses; and 4. Pilot testing and psychometric analyses, including Cronbach's alpha for subscales and factor analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Following translation and cognitive interviews, SHEMESH was administered to 222 psychiatrists and nurses. Pearson correlation showed significant and strong correlations of items 1-4 to the Evidence construct and items 6-11 to the Context construct. Item 5 did not correlate with the other items, and therefore was removed from the other psychometric procedures and eventually from the SHEMESH. Factor analysis with the remaining 10 items yielded two factors, which together explained a total of 69.7% of variance. Cronbach's Alpha scores for the two subscales were high (Evidence, 0.887, and Context, 0.852).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This multi-step validation process of the SHEMESH questionnaire may serve as a comprehensive guideline for others who are willing to adapt research tools that were developed in other languages. Practically, SHEMESH has been validated for use in implementation science research projects in Israel.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10680279/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138441453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Components of professional satisfaction among novice nurses.","authors":"Bella Savitsky, Rachel Shvartsur, Yifat Findling, Anat Ereli, Tova Hendel","doi":"10.1186/s13584-023-00584-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-023-00584-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In Israel there are only 6.53 nurses per 1000 citizens, compared to 8.8 nurses per 1000 citizens in the OECD countries. The nursing shortage is even more severe in peripheral areas, especially in southern Israel. Nurses` professional satisfaction is crucial for preserving the nursing workforce. This study aimed to assess job satisfaction among novice nurses and identify components of professional satisfaction.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Cross-sectional study of 216 novice nurses who graduated in 2018-2022 and were approached ten months after graduation. Job satisfaction components were constructed using factor analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Professional satisfaction was based mainly on the intrinsic characteristics of the occupation related to personal accomplishment and organizational culture. In a multivariable model, a one-point increase in mean satisfaction with the training period during studies in the nursing department was associated with a more than a three-fold elevation in the odds for high and very high professional satisfaction (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.7-5.1). Odds for high and very high professional satisfaction were more than four-fold and two-fold higher among graduates who rated their level of control over work schedule as high and medium vs. low (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.0-16.7 and OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.2-6.3, respectively). Work-life balance without disturbance to daily life by work was found significantly associated with higher odds for high and very high satisfaction. Nurses who plan to continue professional development, i.e., an advanced professional course or Master's degree, had significantly higher mean professional satisfaction scales than others (4.2 vs. 3.7, p = .009 and 4.2 vs. 3.9, p < .001, respectively).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The most important components of professional satisfaction among novice nurses are self-accomplishment, which was built from work-related challenges, interest and variety of tasks, personal growth and development, and the possibility of contributing to patients` care and organizational culture, which was built from relationships with co-workers. Persons who manage nurses should cultivate an atmosphere of support and guidance, provide new nurses with interesting work tasks, and increase their ability to control their work schedule. Young nurses should be encouraged to continue their professional and academic education.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10664554/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138292053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Trends in Israeli community-based opioid prescribing, 2010-2020, an observational study of the country's largest HMO.","authors":"Reuven L Dressler, Ehud Kaliner, Matan J Cohen","doi":"10.1186/s13584-023-00581-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-023-00581-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Prescription opioids are widely used for pain control and palliative care but have been associated with a variety of untoward effects, including opioid use disorder, addiction, and increased mortality. Patterns of opioid use in Israel are to date poorly described.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using a community-based database, the authors performed a retrospective analysis of filled opioid prescriptions of Israeli HMO members 18 years of age or older during the years of 2010-2020 that filled at least one opioid prescription. Morphine milligram equivalent (MME) calculations were stratified by presence or absence of oncology diagnosis and by specific opioid medication.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The percentage of HMO members who filled at least one opioid prescription increased every year from 2.1% in 2010 to 4.2% in 2020. There was an increase in the MME per prescription (44.2%), daily MME per capita (142.1%) and MME per prescription-filling patient (39%) from 2010 to 2020. Increased prescription opioid use is driven by a small group of non-oncological patients, which is less than 1.5% of opioid-prescribed patients and 0.1% of the adult population, primarily owing to fentanyl use.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Supervision and control of opioid prescriptions in Israel should be a focused effort directed at patients prescribed uniquely high dosages rather than a population-wide strategy that focuses on all patients prescribed opioids. This should be complemented by improved physician training and access to non-opioid therapies, as well as improved data collection and analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10652579/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136399729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zongshuan Duan, Hagai Levine, Yael Bar-Zeev, Yuxian Cui, Cassidy R LoParco, Yan Wang, Lorien C Abroms, Amal Khayat, Carla J Berg
{"title":"Health warning labels on heated tobacco products and their impact on use intentions and risk perceptions: a cross-sectional study of adult tobacco users in the US and Israel.","authors":"Zongshuan Duan, Hagai Levine, Yael Bar-Zeev, Yuxian Cui, Cassidy R LoParco, Yan Wang, Lorien C Abroms, Amal Khayat, Carla J Berg","doi":"10.1186/s13584-023-00582-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13584-023-00582-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Health warning labels (HWLs) represent an evidence-based tobacco control strategy; however, their application to heated tobacco products (HTPs) and related impacts are understudied. This study examined the impact of HTP HWLs on HTP use intentions and risk perceptions among current tobacco users.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed cross-sectional survey data from adults in the US and Israel reporting past-month tobacco use and awareness of HTPs (N = 424). Multivariate analyses examined: (1) sociodemographics in relation to self-reported impact of HTP HWLs (i.e., more concerned about HTP use, reassured, no effect [referent]) among those who noticed HTP HWLs (multinomial regressions); and (2) HWL impacts in relation to HTP use intentions and perceived addictiveness and harm (linear regressions).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among participants who noticed HTP HWLs (n = 372, 87.7%), 27.7% reported HWLs increased their concerns about HTP use, 22.6% were reassured about use, and 49.7% reported no effect. Factors associated with increased concern (vs. no effect) included other tobacco product use (aOR = 2.10, 95% CI 1.21-3.64) and being female (aOR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.03-3.05). Factors associated with being reassured about HTPs use (vs. no effect) included current HTP use (aOR = 2.11, 95% CI 1.11-4.00) and being from Israel (vs. US: aOR = 3.85, 95% CI 1.85-7.69), female (aOR = 1.91, 95% CI 1.07-3.42), and less educated (< college education: aOR = 2.57, 95% CI 1.42-4.63). Reporting that HWLs on HTPs increased concern (β = 0.46, 95% CI 0.03-0.89) and reassured of use (β = 0.94, 95% CI 0.47-1.41) were positively associated with HTP use intentions; no associations with risk perceptions were found.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Findings indicate that most tobacco users noticed HWLs on HTPs, but the majority reported no effect or being reassured of using HTPs, effects that were magnified for specific subgroups. Both increased concern and reassurance correlated with greater use intentions. Additional research should evaluate HTP HWL impacts and ensure effectiveness in communicating risks and discouraging use.</p>","PeriodicalId":46694,"journal":{"name":"Israel Journal of Health Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10644544/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"92156880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}