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Biomedical subjects

Y Yodfat

Publications and source records attributed to Y Yodfat.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

A new, short family function assessment questionnaire for use in family medical practice in Israel: construction, validation and preliminary application.

This report describes the compilation and initial steps in the field testing of a new questionnaire intended for Israeli family physicians wishing to rapidly assess the general level of family functioning of their patients as part of everyday routine history taking in practice. The questionnaire was shown to have reasonable reliability and validity in a nonrepresentative sample of 140 married Israeli adults in three different family medicine practices. The questionnaire yielded a sum score ranging from 0 to 20. Preliminary estimates, based on a comparison of the sum score of each patient's questionnaire with the doctor's assessment of the family's functioning, suggest that patients of families with poor function score 11 or less, with satisfactory function 12 to 17, and with good function more than 17. These ranges require further refinement and standardization by testing the questionnaire among other groups of the Israeli population.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Effect of psychosocial stress on natural killer cell activity.

Previous studies have indicated that the degree of stress controllability, rather than stress itself, may be a factor in immunosuppression. In the present study lymphocytes were obtained from individuals living in agricultural settlements in the Jerusalem area who are under the medical supervision of family-oriented primary health care clinics. Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) obtained from married, adult males classified either as "copers" or as "non-copers" were tested for their natural killer (NK) activity and for the expression of the Leu 7 and Leu 11 NK-associated antigens. Differences were noted in the NK activity of PBL obtained from individuals belonging to various ethnic origins. Among Moroccan Jews the NK activity of non-copers was significantly lower than that of copers. In contrast, the proportion of PBL carrying antigenic markers of NK cells (Leu 7 and Leu 11) was higher among copers than among non-copers. Thus, psychosocial stress may lead in non-copers to decreased NK activity paralleled by an increase in the proportion of either immature pre-NK cells or possibly other immunoregulatory cells.

Family↗
PubMed1987

Health beliefs and hypertension: a case-control study in a Moroccan Jewish community in Israel.

This research focuses on the efficacy of health interventions and patient-physician negotiation in modifying patient belief models and influencing compliance behavior. It is an example of clinically applied anthropology in the Hadassah Family Practice Clinic of Beit Shemesh, Israel. Forty-six Moroccan Jewish hypertensives and normotensives were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Explanatory models of hypertension were elicited. In addition, the results from all questionnaires were scored according to the Health Belief Model Equation and correlated with each individual's assessed compliance. The only positive correlation, significant to p less than 0.05, was found among hypertensives: a correlation between the degree of compliance and the congruence of the individual's health belief model with that of the health provider. The authors conclude that hypertensive health belief and explanatory models were not perceptibly affected by health care intervention. The congruence of the patient's health belief model with that of the health provider may be predictive of compliance.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Classifying family/household problems.

To investigate how family/household problems could be classified 186 problems recorded in 55 families by 14 Israeli family physicians were studied. Four major categories were used which included health problems in one family member affecting others in the household, relationship problems, social problems and health problems in more than one family member. Over half of the 186 problems were psychological or physical problems in the individual which affected other household members. Specific diagnostic titles from the International Classification of Health Problems in Primary Care (ICHPPC-2-Defined) were suitable to classify virtually all identified family/household problems. More problems were identified in mothers than in fathers or children and mothers were perceived as being affected most by social and relationship problems. Additional studies are suggested.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Type A behaviour in two ethnic rural communities of males in Israel with and without coronary heart disease.

In an all male case-control study, 40 coronary heart disease patients were compared with 80 controls without coronary disease in terms of selected behavioural variables. The coronary patients were drawn from several rural villages receiving medical care from the Shimshon Medical Centre in Israel. The controls were selected at random from the computerized medical records of the Centre. The major behavioural assessment was the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) designed to measure the coronary-prone behaviour pattern (Type A). Coronary patients were found to score significantly more in the Type A direction than those men free of coronary disease. These results replicate earlier findings reported for several U.S.A. and European samples of retrospective coronary cases and controls. The Israeli sample was also compared in terms of other demographic variables and found to be similar to the prevalence samples studied in the U.S.A. This study is one of the first to provide evidence linking the Type A coronary-prone behaviour pattern, as measured by the JAS, to coronary disease in a rural population outside the United States. In addition, cases scored consistently higher than controls for both ethnic groups studied.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Captopril as a replacement for multiple therapy in hypertension: a controlled study.

A controlled study was conducted in hypertensive patients to investigate whether captopril can be substituted for the various other antihypertensive drugs (not including diuretics) to reduce side effects and improve the quality of life. Captopril in a twice daily dose of 25-50 mg, was substituted and titrated in 54 patients. Fifty-two patients, matched by age and sex, comprised the control group, and were treated with a variety of agents. During a follow-up of 9 months, 44 of the patients receiving captopril (81%) achieved the goal of supine blood pressure less than 90 mmHg. Captopril was discontinued in two patients due to side effects. Mild proteinuria was observed in two patients. A significant reduction in scores or rates of side effects (numbness, blurred vision, insomnia, vivid dreams, cold extremities, sleepiness, sexual dysfunction and fatigue) and improvement in quality of life (general feeling, mood and concentration) was observed in the study group compared with the control group. Captopril alone in a twice daily dose of 25-50 mg, or in co-treatment with thiazide, provided sustained blood pressure control with minimal side effects and improvement in quality of life compared with the treatment of hypertension with beta-blockers, vasodilators or methyldopa.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

The family approach in primary care: new conceptual models.

The new conceptual models in family medicine stress the importance of the family as a system made up of individuals and subsystems. This system is influenced by life events, which may be normative or nonnormative. The ability of the family to cope with stressful life events is dependent on its functional state. Two practical models, the family APGAR and the Family Categories Schema, are illustrated. The knowledge of these conceptual models will help the family physician to assess and manage many problems presented by patients in his practice.

Family↗