תוצאת חיפוש

איילת ברג (1), טוביה חורב (2), שלמה פ' זוסמן (3),

(1) ג'וינט-מכון ברוקדייל לגרונטולוגיה והתפתחות אדם וחברה, (2) המח' למדיניות וניהול מערכות בריאות, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, (3) האגף לבריאות השן, משרד הבריאות, ירושלים

המחסור בנתונים בתחום הדנטלי, הביא את ג'וינט-מכון ברוקדייל לערוך מחקר מקיף באוכלוסייה הכללית. מאמר זה מהווה חלק מהמחקר המקיף, ומטרתו העיקרית היא לאתר הבדלים בנגישות, בזמינות ובאיכות השירות בין סוגי מירפאות-השיניים.

באוכלוסיית המחקר נכללו כל תושבי המדינה שגילם מעל 22 שנה. הנתונים נאספו באמצעות ריאיונות טלפוניים בחודשים מרץ-מאי 1998.

ממימצאי המחקר הנוכחי עולה, כי 59% מהמרואיינים דיווחו על ביקור בשנה האחרונה במירפאת-שיניים. רק 12% דיווחו כי הגיעו למרפאת השיניים ביוזמתם לביקורת מונעת תקופתית. מרואיינים שביקרו במירפאות השיניים של קופת-חולים דיווחו על השיעור הגבוה ביותר של כוח-עזר, כגון סייעות או שינניות, ועל קבלת הסברים מרופא השיניים לגבי מהות הבעיה הרפואית והטיפול בה. ההמתנה לתור במירפאות של קופות-החולים היא הארוכה ביותר, אולם משך ההמתנה לטיפול בתחומי המירפאות הוא הקצר ביותר. לעומת זאת, זמן ההמתנה לטיפול במירפאות הציבוריות הוא הארוך ביותר.

מימצאי המחקר מדגימים, ששביעות הרצון מהסדר והניקיון במירפאות של קופות-החולים (90%) היא גבוהה יותר בהשוואה למירפאות הפרטיות (78%) והציבוריות (46%). הציון המשוקלל הגבוה ביותר (טוב מאוד) לשביעות רצון מטיפול, ניתן למירפאות השיניים הפרטיות ולמירפאות השיניים הקיבוצים (63% ו-67%, בהתאמה), בהשוואה למירפאות של קופות החולים (49%), למירפאות הציבוריות (55%) ולמירפאות של חברה או תאגיד (43%).

עלות הטיפול נתפסת כגבוהה יותר בקרב המבקרים במירפאות קופות-החולים לעומת המירפאות הפרטיות, ובאופן כללי נתפסת העלות של טיפול שיניים כגבוהה. שיעור נמוך של האוכלוסייה פונה למירפאת השיניים לצורך ביקורת מנע, ורבים מהמרואיינים דיווחו שלא קיבלו מרופא-השיניים שלהם כל הסבר על מהות הבעיה בה הם לוקים או על הטיפול הנדרש.

במחקר מוצגים גם נתונים ממדינות אחרות. מימצאי המחקר יכולים להוות בסיסי מידע, שיסייע למקבלי ההחלטות בתחום המדיניות של בריאות השן בישראל.

שרונה אמר, נגה טיבן, חאלד כרכבי, דורון חרמוני

המח' לרפואת משפחה, שירותי בריאות כללית, מחוז חיפה וגליל מערבי והפקולטה לרפואה, הטכניון, חיפה

קיימים בספרות דיווחים רבים על החשיבות של חדילה מעישון, עיסוק בפעילות גופנית ושמירה על תזונה בריאה. אין עדיין מספיק מחקרים בספרות העולמית בכלל ובישראל בפרט, המעידים שייעוץ רפואי אכן משפיע על מטופליו לשנות את אורח-חייהם. במחקר זה בחנו אם בפגישת רופא-מטופל המוקדשת כולה לנושא של רפואה מונעת ניתן לגרום לשינוי באורח-החיים של מטופלים, דהיינו הפסקת עישון, פעילות גופנית וירידה במשקל.

במחקר נכללו 88 מטופלים בגילאי 25-50. המטופלים זומנו לפגישה בת 20 דקות עם רופא-המשפחה. בפגישה קיבלו המטופלים הדרכה אישית מרופא-המשפחה בתחומים של עישון, פעילות גופנית ותזונה בריאה. ההדרכה הותאמה לכל מטופל. כעבור 6-12 חודשים, רואיינו המטופלים טלפונית. הנתונים עובדו ונותחו באמצעות תוכנת SPSS לחלונות.

מתוך 25 מעשנים, חדלו לעשן שתי מטופלות (8%); חמישה (20%) מעשנים הפחיתו מספר הסיגריות שעישנו ביום. לאחר ההתערבות חלה עלייה במספר האנשים שעסקו בפעילות גופנית קבועה – 56.1% לעומת 2.7% לפני ההתערבות. העלייה נמצאה משמעותית מבחינה סטטיסטית (p<0.001). בקרב מטופלים הלוקים בעודף-משקל (BMI 26.9-25) ובהשמנת-יתר (27>BMI) נמצאה ירידה משמעותית סטטיסטית (p<0.001) ב-BMI בעקבות ההתערבות. בקרב מטופלים בעלי משקל תקין (BMI 24.9-20) ונמוך (20<BMI) נמצאה ירידה ב-BMI – אולם היא אינה משמעותית סטטיסטית.

בעידן שבו שיקולים כלכליים מכבידים על עבודתו היומיומית של הרופא ועל החלטותיו, הראנו כי פגישה קצרה בין רופא למטופל, שאינה כרוכה בעלות גבוהה, עשויה לתרום לשינוי באורח-חייו של מטופל.

מיכל בר-נתן, יחזקאל סידי, חנן גור

המח' לרפואה פנימית ג', מרכז רפואי שיבא, תל-השומר

תסחיף ריאתי (ת"ר) הוא מצב שכיח בתחומי רפואה שונים והסתמנותו הקלינית מגוונת. הביטויים השכיחים כוללים קוצר נשימה פתאומי, כאב צידרי (pleural pain), שיעול, גניחת-דם ועילפון. טאכיפנאה, טאכיקרדיה, גודש ורידי צוואר והיפוקסמיה. שיעור התמותה מת"ר הוא 6%-8%, למרות טיפול, אך בחולים עם ת"ר המלווה בירידת לחץ-דם, עלול שיעור התמותה להגיע עד 30%.

מצב קליני קשה יותר הוא תסחיף ריאתי מסיבי (תר"מ). זהו מצב מסכן חיים, הכרוך בשיעור תמותה גבוה ביותר ומחייב טיפול מיידי. מרבית החולים (60%-70%) עלולים למות תוך 1-6 שעות מתחילת התסמינים, אם לא יוחל טיפול. הטיפול בחולה עם תר"מ מחייב שיתוף פעולה של צוות רפואי הכולל את הרופאים המטפלים, אנשי דימות פולשני, יחידה לטיפול נמרץ ומנתחי לב. ההחלטות חייבות להתקבל במהירות על סמך הוריות המעוגנות בתוצאות מחקרים, אך מביאות בחשבון את הידע והניסיון המקומי של הצוות הרפואי.

המטרה בסקירה הנוכחית היא לדון בהיבטים השונים של הטיפול בחולה עם תר"מ, על סמך המידע בספרות ועל סמך הניסיון שרכשנו בטיפול במספר חולים עם תר"מ בשנים האחרונות, תוך ניסיון לשתף את קהל הקוראים בתרשימי הזרימה לטיפול, שגובשו במחלקתנו.

ברכה רגר,

משרד הבריאות והמח' למיקרוביולוגיה ואימונולוגיה, הפקולטה למדעי הבריאות, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון, באר-שבע

תרומתם של החיסונים השונים למניעה ולמיגור מחלות, אינה מוטלת בספק. שיעורי התחלואה והתמותה ממחלות כמו אבעבועות שחורות, שיתוק ילדים וחצבת, ירדו בצורה משמעותית במדינות בהן חיסון האוכלוסייה הפך להיות חלק מרכזי מהשמירה על בריאות הציבור. אומנם, עם התקדמות הרפואה וההבנה של מנגנוני מחלות, התרבו העדויות, שלתרכיבי חיסון גם צד שלילי. למרות זאת, אין לפגוע בפיתוח תחום זה וחשוב להמשיך ולחסן את האוכלוסייה כפי שנעשה עד כה. באותה מידה, יש להמשיך לפתח תרכיבים חדשים ולשפר את הקיימים.

Patient Satisfaction and Hospital Services Evaluation by Regular and Private Patients

Sara Carmel, Jonathan Halevy

Dept. of the Sociology of Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of

the Negev, Beer Sheba; Sha'are Zedek Medical Center and Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem

"Sharap" is a private medical service integrated within our public clinic and hospital services. Clients may choose their physician by paying a fee in addition to what their health insurance agency (Kupat Holim) pays for. All other hospital services are supplied to all patients alike. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which this declared policy is maintained in practice.

During 5 months in 1997, 198 Sharap patients and 198 regular patients were interviewed in the the general surgery, cardiac surgery, ENT, cardiology, newborn and gynecology wards of this hospital. Both groups were similar in regard to cause of hospitalization, gender, age group (10-year age ranges), and length of hospitalization (at least 24 hours).

Similar levels of satisfaction with hospitalization in general and with the nursing service and with supportive services were found in both groups. However, Sharap patients were more satisfied with their physicians than regular patients (87% vs 74%, respectively). Similar results were also found using indirect measures of satisfaction. About 86% in both groups reported having achieved the goal of improvement in health. A high proportion of respondents from both groups (82% and 88%, respectively) could not distinguish between Sharap and regular patients in the ward. However, a greater proportion of regular patients (35% vs 21%) wanted more extensive explanations from their physicians regarding their treatment.

Sharap patients belonged to higher socio-economic classes than regular patients. Our evaluation indicates that although the Sharap service enables the affluent to choose their preferred physician, resulting in a different doctor-patient relationship, the service does not create a significant feeling of discrimination among hospitalized patients, and does not interfere with the high level of health services available to the public at large.

Computerization in a Community Health Service Provider

Boaz Porter

Maccabi Health Services, Beer Sheba

As the second largest health service provider organization in Israel, we have been progressively computerized. The process was begun in 1988, focusing on improving administrative and financial processes.

Today there is a single centralized database for 6,000 users. The system monitors member eligibility, accounting procedures and clinical processes, including diagnoses, laboratory tests, imaging procedures and drug-prescribing. The potential of the computer for physician support is now being realized through integration of clinical guidelines and reminder systems into the computerized clinical record. In addition, the centralized database is used for quality improvement, facilitating cost-effective drug-prescribing and efficient use of technology.

The establishment of a computerized working environment for 2,000 physicians and 4,000 other healthcare workers serving 1.3 million patients is a unique model for the development of community health services. Data regarding demographics, disease patterns, drug-prescribing, use of new technology and costs are now readily available to all, from senior management to the individual physician in independent practice.

The computer revolution has also presented a new set of problems such patient-record confidentiality and the effect of the computer on the physician-patient encounter.

Sonographic Demonstration of a Levonorgestrel-Releasing LUD

Yaron Zalel, Doron Kreizer, David Soriano, Reuven Achiron

Ultrasound Unit, Obstetrics and Gynecologic Dept., Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

Mirena, a new intra-uterine device (IUD) introduced in Israel during the past year, releases 20 mcg/day of levonorgestrel for 5 years. It has the advantages of reduced pregnancy rates and diminished menstrual blood loss, together with a low risk of pelvic inflammatory disease compared with current IUD's.

It has a typical sonographic appearance, differing from that of regular IUD's, which was demonstrated in all 15 women examined in this study. Its sonographic appearance includes both proximal and distal ends of the vertical arm of the device, which extend into the internal cervical os and fundal region, respectively. Acoustic shadowing between both ends defines the location of the device, which should help avoid consultations due to "lost IUD's."

Prevalence of Medical Complaints in the Community-Dwelling Elderly

J. Gindin, M. Geitzn, M. Dushenat, H. Siboni, D. Goldstein, Z. Shapira, N. Konstantin, A. Wurm, A. Goldsmid, E. Hay-Am

Geriatric Institute of Education and Research, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot; Pharmacology Dept., Kupat Holim Klalit, Tel Aviv and Central District; and Kupat Holim Klalit, Rishon LeZion

We assessed the prevalence of self-reported medical complaints among the community-dwelling elderly receiving regular medication, and determined associations between health and sociodemographic variables, and the prevalence of complaints.

The study included 170 patients, 60-90 years of age, living at home. Participants were recruited from the 3 main primary care clinics in Rishon LeZion. All were receiving chronic medication and were followed-up utilizing a long-term medication card. Data were gathered in interviews held in patients' homes using a structured questionnaire which included sociodemographics, diseases and medication, mental state assessment by Katzman's score, and a list of 15 medical complaints common among the aged. Relations to age, gender, education, living arrangements, number of diseases and number of medications per patient were determined.

Mean age of participants was 73.2±6.0 years and they suffered an average of 4.07±2.16 diseases and took 5.10±2.83 types of drugs. The most prevalent complaints were: weakness and fatigue (65.0%), agitation and restlessness (56.4%), dry mouth (45.6%), constipation (43.6%) and dizziness (43.2%). The number of diseases, gender, education and age had the strongest associations with the prevalence of specific complaints, as well as their total number. The association between number of medications and mean number of complaints was of borderline significance.

Pediatric Research in an Office-Setting Network

Zahi Grossman, Ernesto Kahan, Samuel Gross, Shai Ashkenazi, Itamar Shalit

Kupat Holim Maccabi, Tel Aviv; Israel Ambulatory Pediatric Association; Dept. of Family Medicine, Tel Aviv University; and Schneider Children's Medical Center, Petah Tikva

Pediatric care in the community is gradually replacing traditional care in hospitals. Despite that, research activity in the community setting is minimal due to objective difficulties. These are mainly constraints of time, office work and lack of research-supporting logistics. In the past decade, throughout the world, primary physicians interested in research have grouped together and formed research networks. The aim of such networks is to support and promote research in the community.

An Israel Pediatric Research in Office-Setting network (IPROS) was established 2 years ago by the Israel Ambulatory Pediatric Association (IAPA). Today, there are over 140 pediatricians listed in IPROS, representing the heterogeneous composition of pediatricians in Israel. The network's policy is defined by a joint steering committee. The committee is composed of IAPA representatives, senior network members and Schneider Hospital senior investigators. The research subjects are diverse, and represent common practical issues.

Effective intra-net communication is vital to the existence of the network, and is accomplished by 3 modalities: 1) semiannual updates by mail, 2) e-mail, using an electronic mailing list to facilitate connection between members, 3) semi-annual meetings. Research budgets are derived from public sources like the Ministry of Health and IAPA, and private sources such as pharmaceutical companies. The administration of the network is supported by Schneider Children's Medical Center, and financed by IAPA.

Home Palliative Care of Terminal Cancer Patients, with Family Feedback

Hana Arad, Hana Geva, Valery Rosin, Ruth Kibrik, Isaac Kersz

Home Care Unit of Kupat Holim Haklalit, HaEmek Medical Center, Afula and Quality Improvement Unit, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa

Palliative care of terminal cancer patients is one of the tasks of our Home Care Unit. Increasing hospitalization costs have brought forward the decision to treat them at home, assuming that they would prefer to return and die in their natural surroundings, among family.

Most of our patients are aged, recent immigrants from the Soviet Union, of low socioeconomic status; most live with their close families. Our care model combines social, cultural, economic, medical and nursing aspects. More patients choose to die at home, and that is where costs are minimal. Care management and characteristics of 44 terminal cancer patients, who died between January and October 1996, are described. Living with a family was not required for treatment at home. Length of care by the unit ranged from 1-48 weeks, with an average of 8.5 and a median of 6. 55% of patients were hospitalized, most (58%) for 5-9 days for noncancerous diseases, and then discharged home. 54% died at home, a third were hospitalized for 2-17 days before death. Compared to the average length of stay in palliative care oncology wards, 1044 days and more than NIS 500,000 were saved.

A telephone survey examined families' satisfaction with various components of care. 92% were satisfied with the home treatment. 79%-82% felt that the nurse and doctor of the team met their needs and expectations. Half the families were satisfied with the treatment of pain. Families in which treatment was 24 weeks or more were generally less satisfied than those with shorter treatment at home. We learned that an early entry into treatment is necessary; hospital referral criteria should consider to a greater extent the coping ability of families; nursing aid hours should be increased and professional emotional support added; additional pain control methods should be used. All these would strengthen families, improve quality of care, and contribute to additional savings by decreasing hospital stay.

Laparoscopic Spermatic Vein Ligation for Varicocele in Adolescents

Zahavi Cohen, Alon Yulevich, Vadim Kapuler, Niza Newman, Abraham J. Mares

Pediatric Surgery Dept., Soroka Medical Center and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheba

We report our initial experience with laparoscopic ligation of spermatic veins in the treatment of varicocele in adolescence. 19 boys, 13 to 18 years old, underwent this treatment between I 1997 and III 98. The varicocele was always on the left side. 12 complained of scrotal discomfort and pain, but in 7 it was found incidentally during routine medical examination by the family or school physician. The diagnosis was based only on physical examination.

There has been no morbidity related to the laparoscopic procedure and all returned to normal activity within a few days. Follow-up 2-12 months after surgery showed no varicocele in any. We conclude that laparoscopy is useful in the treatment of varicocele in adolescents.

Primary Care Physicians in Israel Compared with European Countries

P. Shvartzman, R. Gross, H. Tabenkin, D. Yuval, M. Grinshtein, B. Wienka

Dept. of Family Medicine, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheba;

Brookdale Institute, Jerusalem; and Nivel Institute, Maastricht, the Netherlands

This study compares Israeli primary care physicians with those of European countries. In Israel a larger proportion of those in primary care are women. The Israeli physicians see many patients a day, but almost never make home visits. They also report for work the fewest hours a day, but spend 21 hours a month in continuous medical education. (more than Europeans?) The Israeli primary care physician scores high in screening for breast cancer and blood cholesterol level, but very low in the fields of minor surgery and alcohol and smoking prevention, contraception, nutrition counseling and normal pregnancy follow-up. Residency training and education may be inadequate, and more emphasis has to be put on the health system and recognizing environmental influences.

Clinical Characteristics of those who Leave the Emergency Room Against Advice

A. Carmel, H. Amital, Y. Shemer, A. Sahar

Emergency Dept. and Dept. of Medicine B, Gertner Institute for Medical Service Research, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

The object of this study was to characterize those who leave the emergency department agmedical advice and to examine the short-term consequences. The study was conducted retrospectively 1992 and prospectively during May-August 1993 by telephone interviews. About 0.5% of all the patients who applied to the emergency department left against medical advice. Their main characteristic was that they were mostly young, single men. A wide range of complaints had brought them to the emergency department, very similar to that of the control group, but with a higher tendency to abuse drugs and alcohol. Most of those who left against medical advice had less severe disease than the controls. However 10% of them had to be hospitalized within the subsequent 2 weeks, in comparison with 4% of the controls. This study suggests that improving the efficiency of the emergency department will decrease the number leaving against advice.

Patients' Opinions of the Role of Primary Care Physicians and the Organization of Health Care Services

Revital Gross, Hava Tabenkin, Shuli Bramli, Pesach Schvartzman

JDC-Brookdale Institute, Jerusalem; Dept. of Family Medicine, HaEmek Hospital, Afula; Kupat Holim Clalit, Northern District; Institute for Specialization, Ben-Gurion University, Northern Branch; and Dept. of Family Medicine, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Kupat Holim Clalit, Beer Sheba

Patients' opinions of the role of the primary care physician were studied. The study population consisted of Hebrew-speaking members of the Clalit Sick Fund, aged 18+, who visited primary care and specialty clinics. Interviews took place during January-March 1995 in the Emek and Jerusalem, and during August-October 1995 in Beer Sheba. A total of 2,734 interviews were conducted, and the response rate was 88%. 64% of the respondents preferred the primary care physician as the first address for most problems occurring during the day. Multivariate analysis revealed that the variables predicting this preference were: being over age 45, having completed less than 12 years of schooling, being satisfied with the physician, and when a child's illness was involved. Whether the physician was a specialist had only a marginal effect. The findings also show that among those who did go directly to a specialist for the current visit, 49% would still prefer the primary care physician to be the first address for most problems. However, half of the respondents initiated the current visit to the specialty clinic themselves. The findings also showed that a preference for the primary care physician to be the first address had an independent and statistically significant effect on the following aspects of service consumption: taking the initiative to go to a specialist, the intention to return to the primary care physician or to the specialist for continuing care, and the patient's belief that referral to a specialist was needed. The findings of the study may be of assistance to policy-makers on the national level and to sick funds in planning the role of the primary care physician, so that it corresponds, on the one hand, to the needs of the sick funds and the economic constraints in the health system, and on the other, to the preferences of the patient.

Verapamil-Associated Liver Injury

Majed Odeh, Arie Oliven

Medical Dept. B, Bnai-Zion Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, The Technion, Haifa

Hepatotoxicity due to verapamil is very rare and to the best of our knowledge only 10 cases have been reported. A 54-year-old woman developed cholestatic liver injury and pruritus following treatment with sustained-release verapamil (240 mg/day) for arterial hypertension. The pruritus and all hepatic biochemical abnormalities completely resolved after withdrawal of the drug. Similar to previously reported cases, the pathogenic mechanism of verapamil-associated liver injury in our patient was, most probably, idiosyncratic. These cases emphasize the need for awareness of the possibility that verapamil may occasionally induce liver injury, sometimes severe and potentially fatal.