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Background: Understanding migraine epidemiology and its burden is crucial for planning health policies and interventions at the local level as well as at the global level. National policies in Israel rely on global estimations and not on local data since local epidemiologic studies had not previously been performed. In this study, we evaluated the epidemiology of migraine in the southern district of Israel using the electronic medical records database of the largest Israeli health maintenance organization (HMO). Methods: In this population-based, retrospective, observational cohort study, adult migraine patients were identified in the computerized database of the southern district of the Clalit Health Services HMO (total population, 0.75 million). Patients were identified based on recorded diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision) and/or claims for specific anti-migraine medication (triptans) between 2000 and 2018. A 1:2 age-, gender-, and primary care clinic–matched control group was used for evaluation of comorbidities. Results: In 2018, a total of 29,938 patients with migraine were identified out of 391,528 adult HMO members. Most of the patients were women (75.8%), and the mean ± standard deviation age at diagnosis was 36.94 ± 13.61 years. The overall prevalence of migraine (per 10,000) was 764.64 (7.65%), 1143.34 (11.43%) for women and 374.97 (3.75%) for men. The highest prevalence was observed in patients aged 50 to 60 years and 40 to 50 years (1143.98 [11.44%] and 1019.36 [10.19%], respectively), and the lowest prevalence was among patients aged 18 to 30 years and > 70 years (433.45 [4.33%] and 398.49 [3.98%], respectively). Conclusions: This is the first large-scale epidemiologic study of migraine prevalence in Israel. Compared to international estimations, migraine appears to be underdiagnosed in the southern district of Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Occult blood in stool is the screening modality of choice for colorectal cancer in most countries. Only a small percentage of patients with positive results of this test will have colorectal cancer. In the present study, we wanted to determine risk factors for having colorectal cancer among patients with positive fecal testing. We found that age, anemia, family history of colorectal cancer, and previous colorectal cancer are factors for having colorectal cancer among those with positive fecal testing. The practical implication of the findings of the present study is that people who have positive fecal testing and one of the found risk factors should be prioritized for colonoscopy scheduling. (1) Background: Fecal occult blood test (FOBT) is the modality of choice in most countries for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. We aimed to investigate the risk factors for CRC among patients with a positive FOBT in real life. (2) Methods: This was a retrospective study that included patients who tested positive for FOBT. Data regarding the comorbidities and laboratories were collected and compared between CRC and non-CRC groups. (3) Results: Positive FOBT was found among 45,500 (5.36%) subjects and CRC was found in 1502 (3.3%). CRC patients were older, age 62.7 ± 7.15 years compared with 59.33 ± 7.3 years (p < 0.001), and had significantly higher rates of hypertension (48.4% vs. 44.7%, p = 0.002), iron-deficiency anemia (20.6% vs. 16.4, p < 0.001), family history of CRC (7.3% vs. 5.1%, p < 0.001), and previous CRC (6.5% vs. 0.3%, p < 0.001). Lower levels of hemoglobin, iron, and ferritin were found in the CRC group. Age, family history of CRC, and previous CRC were found to be significant risk factors for diagnosis of CRC after positive FOBT with OR of 1.057, 1.4, and 15.9, respectively. (4) Conclusions: Iron-deficiency anemia, family history of CRC, previous colorectal cancer, and low hemoglobin, iron, and ferritin levels should direct physicians to give high priority to colonoscopy scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]