Normobaric oxygen treatment for mild-to-moderate depression: a randomized, double-blind, proof-of-concept trial.

Oxygen enriched air may increase oxygen pressure in brain tissue and have biochemical effects even in subjects without lung disease. Consistently, several studies demonstrated that normobaric oxygen treatment has clinical benefits in some neurological conditions. This study examined the efficacy of normobaric oxygen treatment in subjects with depression. In a randomized, double-blind trial, 55 participants aged 18-65 years with mild to moderate depression (had a Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HRSD] score of ≥ 8) were recruited to the study from the Southern district in Israel. Participants underwent a psychiatric inclusion assessment at baseline and then were randomly assigned to either normobaric oxygen treatment of 35% fraction of inspired oxygen or 21% fraction of inspired oxygen (room air) through a nasal tube, for 4 weeks, during the night. Evaluations were performed at baseline, 2 and 4 weeks after commencement of study interventions, using the following tools: HRSD; Clinical Global Impression (CGI) questionnaire; World Health Organization-5 questionnaire for the estimation of Quality of Life (WHO-5-QOL); Sense of Coherence (SOC) 13-item questionnaire; and, Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS). A multivariate regression analysis showed that the mean ± standard deviation [SD] changes in the HRSD scores from baseline to week four were - 4.2 ± 0.3 points in the oxygen-treated group and - 0.7 ± 0.6 in the control group, for a between-group difference of 3.5 points (95% confidence interval [CI] - 5.95 to - 1.0; P = 0.007). Similarly, at week four there was a between-group difference of 0.71 points in the CGI score (95% CI - 1.00 to - 0.29; P = 0.001). On the other hand, the analysis revealed that there were no significant differences in WHO-5-QOL, SOC-13 or SDS scores between the groups. This study showed a significant beneficial effect of oxygen treatment on some symptoms of depression.Trial registration: NCT02149563 (29/05/2014).

Male Nurses in Israel: Barriers, Motivation, and How They Are Perceived by Nursing Students.

The current worldwide nursing shortage remains a challenge for the nursing profession. Encouraging men to become nurses and, thereby, increasing the number of practitioners are crucial factors in facing this challenge. The historiography of nursing presents nursing as "women's work," based on the assumption that it is inherently appropriate for women only. Although men were employed as nurses even before nursing was recognized as a profession, male nurses were always a minority in the field. Over the years, the proportion of male nurses has increased, but they still comprise only 5 to 10% of the nursing workforce in the western world. This study examined men's motives for a career choice of nursing, how male nurses are perceived, and the barriers that they face. The study was conducted among 336 nursing students studying in a co-educational program in various academic tracks at a public, nonsectarian university in the south of Israel. Participants completed the following questionnaires in one study session: sociodemographic questionnaire; Attitudes Towards Men in Nursing Scale; motives for career choice questionnaire; and the questionnaire of the perceptions of the professional status of nursing. Study findings revealed that men tended to choose nursing because of financial constraints significantly more frequently than women (P=.001). Among the participants, there was no significant between-sex difference in the perception nursing as women's work (P=.002) or in perception of male nurses as homosexuals. Results of the study showed that the status of the nursing profession is considered low, and the low status deters men from choosing nursing as a career. The motivation for men's career choice must be understood, and men must be empowered to improve their work conditions and financial remuneration in order to recruit men to the field and to improve the perception of the profession and its public status.

Computerized test versus personal interview as admission methods for graduate nursing studies: A retrospective cohort study.

The purpose of this study was to compare the predictive validity, economic efficiency, and faculty staff satisfaction of a computerized test versus a personal interview as admission methods for graduate nursing studies. A mixed method study was designed, including cross-sectional and retrospective cohorts, interviews, and cost analysis. One hundred and thirty-four students in the Master of Nursing program participated. The success of students in required core courses was similar in both admission method groups. The personal interview method was found to be a significant predictor of success, with cognitive variables the only significant contributors to the model. Higher satisfaction levels were reported with the computerized test compared with the personal interview method. The cost of the personal interview method, in annual hourly work, was 2.28 times higher than the computerized test. These findings may promote discussion regarding the cost benefit of the personal interview as an admission method for advanced academic studies in healthcare professions.

Internalization of stigma and self-esteem as it affects the capacity for intimacy among patients with schizophrenia.

The study examines the relationship between internalization of stigma, self-esteem, and the ability of people diagnosed with schizophrenia to form intimate attachments with loved ones. The study included sixty patients with schizophrenia, ages 18-60, men and women. After providing informed consent, all participants completed four questionnaires: Demographics Questionnaire, Self-Esteem Scale, Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale and the Intimacy Attitude Scale-Revised. Internalization of social stigma was found to be a statistically significant core factor that affects self-esteem and the ability to create intimacy among patients with schizophrenia. There was statistically significantly less internalization of stigma of mental illness among hospitalized patients than among individuals with schizophrenia who live in the community.

The mass campaign to eradicate ringworm among the Jewish community in Eastern Europe, 1921-1938.

Between the years 1921 and 1938, 27,600 children were irradiated during a mass campaign to eradicate ringworm among the Jewish community in East Europe. The ringworm campaign was the initiative of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee together with the Jewish health maintenance organization OZE (The Society for the Protection of Jewish Health). We describe this campaign that used x-rays to eradicate ringworm and its mission to enhance public health among Jewish communities in Eastern Europe during the period between the world wars. We discuss the concepts behind the campaign, the primary health agents that participated in it, and the latent medical ramifications that were found among children treated for ringworm, many years after treatment--pathologies that can be linked to the irradiation they received as children. Our research is based on historical archival materials in the United States, Europe, and Israel.

Depressive symptomatology as a risk factor for increased health service utilization among elderly patients in primary care.

Depression may play an important role in determining frequent physician visits in the older population. Our aim is to examine the relationships between socio-demographic variables, co-morbidity, memory complaints, functional status, depressive symptomatology, and health care utilization among community dwelling older patients. The study was conducted in urban primary health care clinics in Beer-Sheva, Israel. Two groups were identified: low care utilizers (LCU), with ≤ 6 visits to family physicians (FP)/year and high care utilizers (HCU) with ≥ 16 visits to FP/year. Data were collected during a structured face-to-face individual interview. The study population included 180 patients, of them 86 (47.7%) were LCU and 94 (52.2%) were HCU. In all clinical measurements the HCU group indicators were statistically significant worse off than the LCU group: average depressive symptoms (5.6 vs. 2.5, p<0.01), memory complaints (57.5% vs. 23.3%, p<0.01), Barthel Index (BI) (89.9 vs. 96.0, p<0.001), OARS (10.8 vs. 12.5, p<0.01), and co-morbidity: total cumulative score (TCS) of Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) (2.2 vs. 1.3, p<0.01). Our study raises the possibility that at least one of the reasons for over-utilization of health services by older residents in the community is depressive symptomatology.

[The forgotten ringworm campaign of OZE-TOZ in Poland].

In 1921, the JOINT-JDC [the American Jewish WeLfare Organization) together with the Jewish health organizations of Eastern Europe (OZE, TOZ) initiated a campaign to eradicate ringworm of the scalp, which was one of the major medical causes that prevented Jews from immigrating to the West. This campaign continued until 1938. During the years 1921-1938, 27,760 children were irradiated (x-rayed) as part of the treatment. This study, based on archival sources in Israel and abroad, presents the story of this unique campaign to eradicate ringworm in the Eastern European Jewish communities, the ideology behind this initiative, the health and medical factors that played a role and its outcomes. This research was conducted at The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research and The School of Public Health at Tel Aviv University.

Reshaping students' attitudes toward individuals with mental illness through a clinical nursing clerkship.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree to which a psychiatric clinical clerkship alters nursing students' attitudes toward individuals with mental illness. The goal of the 4-week clerkship is to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and professional attitudes that will enable them to care for individuals with mental illness in different health care settings. A pencil-and-paper questionnaire was administered to 126 third-year students before and after the clerkship. Students were presented with four hypothetical patients with schizophrenia and were asked to what extent the patient was responsible for his condition, the emotions students felt, and whether students were willing to care for the patient or to segregate him in the hospital. After the clinical clerkship, students became more compassionate and less frightened by psychiatric patients, were more willing to care for individuals with mental illness, and expressed less need to segregate them from the community. In addition, in accord with professional attitudes, students became aware of their own attitudes (the responsibility attributed to patients) and their emotional responses, but these were no longer associated with reluctance to provide care.

Israeli men in nursing: social and personal motives.

AIM: This paper intends to explore what leads Israeli men to choose nursing as their profession. BACKGROUND: In the early years of nursing education in Israel, like in other western societies, men were excluded from the profession. Shortage in nursing personnel and urgent needs led to recruitment of men into the profession for a short period of time. Only since the early 1990s the nursing profession is experiencing a gradual but steady influx of men. Yet, nursing is generally perceived as women's work, and men have to cope with the stereotypes attributed to them as a prominent minority in a profession primarily occupied by women. Currently, no study had examined who are the Israeli men who are willing to enter the profession and why. METHODS: A 52-item questionnaire was distributed among all registered female and male nurses in three general and three psychiatric hospitals during 1997-98. The questionnaire covered sociodemographic characteristics, exposure to the profession and reasons for choosing the profession. The response rate of 74% included 123 male and 137 female registered nurses. CONCLUSIONS: Early exposure to the profession and the fact that the majority of male nurses belong to ethnic minorities and recent immigrants to the Israeli society were the most prominent factors in the selection of the nursing profession by these men. Surprisingly, economic considerations did not constitute a compelling motive in this population.

The provision of modern medical services to a nomadic population: a review of medical services to the Bedouins of southern Sinai during Israeli rule 1967-1982.

Southern Sinai, a mountainous desolated arid area, is inhabited by Bedouin nomad tribes composed of Arabic-speaking Moslems. Until the Six Day War between Egypt and Israel in 1967, healthcare services in the region were based on traditional medicine performed by the Darvish, a local healer. Over the course of Israeli rule (1967-1982) an elaborate healthcare service was established and maintained, providing modern, up to date, comprehensive medical services that were available to all free of charge.