Itzhak Levav
Biographic Data
| ID | 3678832 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Itzhak Levav |
| GIVEN NAMES | Itzhak |
| FAMILY NAME | Levav |
| SIGNATURE | LEVAV I |
| AFFILIATIONS | World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 21 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1987 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Excess mortality in persons with severe mental disorders: A multilevel intervention framework and priorities for clinical practice, policy and research agendas
Excess mortality in persons with severe mental disorders (SMD) is a major public health challenge that warrants action. The number and scope of truly tested interventions in this area remain limited, and strategies for implementation and scaling up of programmes with a strong evidence base are scarce. Furthermore, the majority of available interventions focus on a single or an otherwise limited number of risk factors. Here we present a multilevel…
Violence and Mental Health: Its Manifold Faces
Mental health stigma and attitudes to psychiatry among Bangladeshi medical students
BACKGROUND: The shortage of specialized human resources in mental health in Bangladesh requires active recruitment of psychiatric residents. In addition, the involvement of positively inclined health personnel, for example, medical doctors, emerges as an immediate priority. AIM: To explore stigma among medical students toward persons with mental disorders (PMDs) and their attitudes toward psychiatry. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted …
Ethnic disparities in mental health treatment gap in a community-based survey and in access to care in psychiatric clinics
BACKGROUND: Contrasting social status of ethnic groups differentially impacts the use of psychiatric services, including in Israel, despite its universal health system. However, relevant studies are limited. AIMS: To examine ethnic differences in mental health treatment gap and in access to specialized care. METHODS: Data were gathered from two sources. Study I included Mizrahi (Jews of North African/Asian origin, socially disadvantaged, n = 136)…
Common mental disorders in immigrant and second-generation respondents: Results from the Israel-based World Mental Health Survey
Results showed disparities in the mental health measures in both generations. It is likely that social causation factors, such as restricted opportunities in the context of higher aspirations, partially account for the findings
Extender la reforma por medio de nuevas acciones de salud mental
Sistemas de salud mental en El Salvador, Guatemala y Nicaragua: Resultados de una evaluación mediante el WHO-Aims
The authors evaluated the mental health systems of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, using a group of select indicators. The World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) was used to collect data from the nations. The national mental health systems of Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador have serious limitations, especially in primary care, and a marked lack of qualified human resources. Budget allocat…
Los trastornos mentales en América Latina y el Caribe: Asunto prioritario para la salud pública
OBJETIVO: La creciente carga de trastornos mentales que afecta a las poblaciones de América Latina y el Caribe es demasiado grande para hacer caso omiso de ella. Por lo tanto, es una necesidad impostergable conocer la prevalencia de los trastornos mentales y la brecha de tratamiento, que está dada por la diferencia entre las tasas de prevalencia verdadera y las de las personas que han sido tratadas, que en algunos casos es grande pese a la existe…
Psychological and psychopathological reactions in Honduras following Hurricane Mitch: Implications for service planning
Out of a total population of 3.3 million adults (age 15 and older) in Honduras, it is estimated that over 492,000 of them may have developed PTSD due to Hurricane Mitch.
Treinamento de clínicos para o diagnóstico e tratamento da depressão
OBJETIVO: Avaliar os resultados da aplicação de programa de treinamento da Organização Mundial de Saúde, voltado para diagnóstico e tratamento da depressão, dirigido a médicos clínicos gerais. MÉTODOS: Dezessete clínicos e 1.224 pacientes da cidade de Campinas, SP, participaram do estudo. Um mês antes e um após o treinamento, foram avaliados o conhecimento dos médicos, suas atitudes e o atendimento prestado aos pacientes; esses, por sua vez, comp…
Factores de riesgo de trastornos conductuales y emocionales en la niñez: Estudio comunitario en el Uruguay
In light of our results, mental health in childhood is a social and public health problem that warrants further epidemiologic study in Uruguay
PTSD an explanation for affective disorder among Jews: A response
Attitudes towards mental illness in the Commonwealth of Dominica
Little is known about the perception of mental illness in the English-speaking Caribbean. This study was conducted in 1995 to determine the attitudes, knowledge, and help-seeking practices for emotional disorders in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Two groups in Dominica were surveyed: 67 community leaders, consisting of nurses, teachers, and police officers; and 135 community members grouped into five socioeconomic strata that were collapsed to thr…
Parenting and physical punishment: Primary care interventions in Latin America
Physical punishment is a form of intrafamilial violence associated with short- and long-term adverse mental health outcomes. Despite these possible consequences, it is among the most common forms of violent interpersonal behavior. For many children it begins within the first year of life. The goal of this study was to determine the feasibility of involving public sector primary health care providers to inform parents about alternatives to physica…
An Anthropological and Epidemiological Overview of Mental Health in Belize
While the use of epidemiological and anthropological methods to determine health risk factors is growing, combined work in the area of psychiatric epidemiology is still limited. This article presents a preliminary overview of the mental health needs and resources in Belize using historic, demographic, epidemiologic and ethnographic methods to survey both the needs and societal resources available to the ethnically heterogeneous population of this…
Affective disorders among Jews: A historical review and meta-analysis
Descriptions of affective disorders among Jews date back to biblical times. For over a century the psychiatric literature has debated whether Jews are more vulnerable to affective disorders. To ascertain the validity of this finding we undertook a meta-analysis of data extracted from the literature published to date. Forty-three studies were identified that could be analysed statistically using Cohen's d and a Mantel-Haenszel summary odds ratio. …
Epilepsy in Latin America and the Caribbean: A survey on needs and resources
A survey was done on the needs and resources available to control epilepsy in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Responses came from ministries of health, prominent neurologists, and epilepsy advocacy organizations. A mailed questionnaire was used, and the response rate was excellent, 89%. The survey results showed that the private sector is better equipped to deal with epilepsy than is the public sector, in terms of both specializ…
The use of electroconvulsive therapy in Latin America and the Caribbean
Sixty years after its introduction into psychiatry (1), the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) still fuels scientific, ideological, and ethical debate. One well-informed proponent has observed that ECT is probably more enshrouded in myth than any other procedure in medicine (2). Among the population at large, and especially patients and their family members, ECT may be the psychiatric intervention that arouses the most anxiety (3, 4)—although…
Nongenetic Familial Transmission of Psychiatric Disorders? Evidence from Children of Holocaust Survivors
There is considerable evidence that psychiatric disorders aggregate in families, a phenomenon for which both genetic and nongenetic explanations have been proposed. However, since genetic and social inheritance usually co-occur, it is difficult to separate out their effects. In this paper, we argue that examining the rates of disorder among children of Holocaust survivors provides a special situation where genetic and nongenetic factors in famili…
Socioeconomic Status and Psychiatric Disorders: The Causation-Selection Issue
Are inverse relations between psychiatric disorders and socioeconomic status due more to social causation (adversity and stress) or social selection (downward mobility of genetically predisposed)? This classical epidemiological issue is tested by focusing on ethnic status in relation to socioeconomic status. Ethnic status cannot be an effect of disorder because it is present at birth whereas socioeconomic status depends on educational and occupat…
Separating Class and Ethnic Prejudice: A Study of North African and European Jews in Israel
The coincidence of minority ethnic status and low socioeconomic status makes it difficult to separate class and ethnic prejudice. We have designed a survey experiment in which class, ethnicity, and other relevant factors could be experimentally manipulated, separated, and controlled. Using a sample of first-generation Israeli Jews of North African and European parentage, this experiment shows that ethnicity influences the desire for social distan…
Second Thoughts on the Lethal Aftermath of a Loss
This article discusses the results of a recently published study by Levav et al. on the mortality effects of parental bereavement. The negative findings of the reported research, in which the mortality risk of a large group of parents who lost a son in war or in accidents was compared with the mortality pattern of a control population, are somewhat surprising in view of evidence produced by studies on conjugal bereavement. The results cast doubt …
Somatic Symptoms Among Older Soviet Immigrants: An Exploratory Study
This exploratory study investigates the overlap of somatization and depressive symp toms among older Jewish-Soviet immigrants to the United States. It has been sug gested that this group has depression often masked by somatic complaints. In order to test this hypothesis fifty-five respondents completed the Symptom Checklist 90, PERI Demoralization Scale and the Social Support Network Inventory. The somatiza tion subscale was found to be significa…
Life stress and psychopathology: Progress on research begun with Barbara Snell Dohrenwend
This is a progress report on some of the research that was planned and begun with Barbara Dohrenwend before she died in 1982. The main focus is on two of the studies. One was conducted in New York City; the other is still underway in Israel. The New York study is a retrospective case/control study of social and psychological factors that may put people at risk for developing schizophrenic episodes and episodes of major depression. The Israel rese…
Separating Class and Ethnic Prejudice: A Study of North African and European Jews in Israel
The coincidence of minority ethnic status and low socioeconomic status makes it difficult to separate class and ethnic prejudice. We have designed a survey experiment in which class, ethnicity, and other relevant factors could be experimentally manipulated, separated, and controlled. Using a sample of first-generation Israeli Jews of North African and European parentage, this experiment shows that ethnicity influences the desire for social distan…
Treinamento de clínicos para o diagnóstico e tratamento da depressão
OBJETIVO: Avaliar os resultados da aplicação de programa de treinamento da Organização Mundial de Saúde, voltado para diagnóstico e tratamento da depressão, dirigido a médicos clínicos gerais. MÉTODOS: Dezessete clínicos e 1.224 pacientes da cidade de Campinas, SP, participaram do estudo. Um mês antes e um após o treinamento, foram avaliados o conhecimento dos médicos, suas atitudes e o atendimento prestado aos pacientes; esses, por sua vez, comp…
Nongenetic Familial Transmission of Psychiatric Disorders? Evidence from Children of Holocaust Survivors
There is considerable evidence that psychiatric disorders aggregate in families, a phenomenon for which both genetic and nongenetic explanations have been proposed. However, since genetic and social inheritance usually co-occur, it is difficult to separate out their effects. In this paper, we argue that examining the rates of disorder among children of Holocaust survivors provides a special situation where genetic and nongenetic factors in famili…
An Anthropological and Epidemiological Overview of Mental Health in Belize
While the use of epidemiological and anthropological methods to determine health risk factors is growing, combined work in the area of psychiatric epidemiology is still limited. This article presents a preliminary overview of the mental health needs and resources in Belize using historic, demographic, epidemiologic and ethnographic methods to survey both the needs and societal resources available to the ethnically heterogeneous population of this…
Life stress and psychopathology: Progress on research begun with Barbara Snell Dohrenwend
This is a progress report on some of the research that was planned and begun with Barbara Dohrenwend before she died in 1982. The main focus is on two of the studies. One was conducted in New York City; the other is still underway in Israel. The New York study is a retrospective case/control study of social and psychological factors that may put people at risk for developing schizophrenic episodes and episodes of major depression. The Israel rese…
Common mental disorders in immigrant and second-generation respondents: Results from the Israel-based World Mental Health Survey
Results showed disparities in the mental health measures in both generations. It is likely that social causation factors, such as restricted opportunities in the context of higher aspirations, partially account for the findings
Life stress and psychopathology: Progress on research begun with Barbara Snell Dohrenwend
This is a progress report on some of the research that was planned and begun with Barbara Dohrenwend before she died in 1982. The main focus is on two of the studies. One was conducted in New York City; the other is still underway in Israel. The New York study is a retrospective case/control study of social and psychological factors that may put people at risk for developing schizophrenic episodes and episodes of major depression. The Israel rese…
Somatic Symptoms Among Older Soviet Immigrants: An Exploratory Study
This exploratory study investigates the overlap of somatization and depressive symp toms among older Jewish-Soviet immigrants to the United States. It has been sug gested that this group has depression often masked by somatic complaints. In order to test this hypothesis fifty-five respondents completed the Symptom Checklist 90, PERI Demoralization Scale and the Social Support Network Inventory. The somatiza tion subscale was found to be significa…
Second Thoughts on the Lethal Aftermath of a Loss
This article discusses the results of a recently published study by Levav et al. on the mortality effects of parental bereavement. The negative findings of the reported research, in which the mortality risk of a large group of parents who lost a son in war or in accidents was compared with the mortality pattern of a control population, are somewhat surprising in view of evidence produced by studies on conjugal bereavement. The results cast doubt …
Separating Class and Ethnic Prejudice: A Study of North African and European Jews in Israel
The coincidence of minority ethnic status and low socioeconomic status makes it difficult to separate class and ethnic prejudice. We have designed a survey experiment in which class, ethnicity, and other relevant factors could be experimentally manipulated, separated, and controlled. Using a sample of first-generation Israeli Jews of North African and European parentage, this experiment shows that ethnicity influences the desire for social distan…
Socioeconomic Status and Psychiatric Disorders: The Causation-Selection Issue
Are inverse relations between psychiatric disorders and socioeconomic status due more to social causation (adversity and stress) or social selection (downward mobility of genetically predisposed)? This classical epidemiological issue is tested by focusing on ethnic status in relation to socioeconomic status. Ethnic status cannot be an effect of disorder because it is present at birth whereas socioeconomic status depends on educational and occupat…
Nongenetic Familial Transmission of Psychiatric Disorders? Evidence from Children of Holocaust Survivors
There is considerable evidence that psychiatric disorders aggregate in families, a phenomenon for which both genetic and nongenetic explanations have been proposed. However, since genetic and social inheritance usually co-occur, it is difficult to separate out their effects. In this paper, we argue that examining the rates of disorder among children of Holocaust survivors provides a special situation where genetic and nongenetic factors in famili…
The use of electroconvulsive therapy in Latin America and the Caribbean
Sixty years after its introduction into psychiatry (1), the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) still fuels scientific, ideological, and ethical debate. One well-informed proponent has observed that ECT is probably more enshrouded in myth than any other procedure in medicine (2). Among the population at large, and especially patients and their family members, ECT may be the psychiatric intervention that arouses the most anxiety (3, 4)—although…
Affective disorders among Jews: A historical review and meta-analysis
Descriptions of affective disorders among Jews date back to biblical times. For over a century the psychiatric literature has debated whether Jews are more vulnerable to affective disorders. To ascertain the validity of this finding we undertook a meta-analysis of data extracted from the literature published to date. Forty-three studies were identified that could be analysed statistically using Cohen's d and a Mantel-Haenszel summary odds ratio. …
Epilepsy in Latin America and the Caribbean: A survey on needs and resources
A survey was done on the needs and resources available to control epilepsy in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Responses came from ministries of health, prominent neurologists, and epilepsy advocacy organizations. A mailed questionnaire was used, and the response rate was excellent, 89%. The survey results showed that the private sector is better equipped to deal with epilepsy than is the public sector, in terms of both specializ…
PTSD an explanation for affective disorder among Jews: A response
Attitudes towards mental illness in the Commonwealth of Dominica
Little is known about the perception of mental illness in the English-speaking Caribbean. This study was conducted in 1995 to determine the attitudes, knowledge, and help-seeking practices for emotional disorders in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Two groups in Dominica were surveyed: 67 community leaders, consisting of nurses, teachers, and police officers; and 135 community members grouped into five socioeconomic strata that were collapsed to thr…
Parenting and physical punishment: Primary care interventions in Latin America
Physical punishment is a form of intrafamilial violence associated with short- and long-term adverse mental health outcomes. Despite these possible consequences, it is among the most common forms of violent interpersonal behavior. For many children it begins within the first year of life. The goal of this study was to determine the feasibility of involving public sector primary health care providers to inform parents about alternatives to physica…
An Anthropological and Epidemiological Overview of Mental Health in Belize
While the use of epidemiological and anthropological methods to determine health risk factors is growing, combined work in the area of psychiatric epidemiology is still limited. This article presents a preliminary overview of the mental health needs and resources in Belize using historic, demographic, epidemiologic and ethnographic methods to survey both the needs and societal resources available to the ethnically heterogeneous population of this…
Factores de riesgo de trastornos conductuales y emocionales en la niñez: Estudio comunitario en el Uruguay
In light of our results, mental health in childhood is a social and public health problem that warrants further epidemiologic study in Uruguay
Treinamento de clínicos para o diagnóstico e tratamento da depressão
OBJETIVO: Avaliar os resultados da aplicação de programa de treinamento da Organização Mundial de Saúde, voltado para diagnóstico e tratamento da depressão, dirigido a médicos clínicos gerais. MÉTODOS: Dezessete clínicos e 1.224 pacientes da cidade de Campinas, SP, participaram do estudo. Um mês antes e um após o treinamento, foram avaliados o conhecimento dos médicos, suas atitudes e o atendimento prestado aos pacientes; esses, por sua vez, comp…
Los trastornos mentales en América Latina y el Caribe: Asunto prioritario para la salud pública
OBJETIVO: La creciente carga de trastornos mentales que afecta a las poblaciones de América Latina y el Caribe es demasiado grande para hacer caso omiso de ella. Por lo tanto, es una necesidad impostergable conocer la prevalencia de los trastornos mentales y la brecha de tratamiento, que está dada por la diferencia entre las tasas de prevalencia verdadera y las de las personas que han sido tratadas, que en algunos casos es grande pese a la existe…
Psychological and psychopathological reactions in Honduras following Hurricane Mitch: Implications for service planning
Out of a total population of 3.3 million adults (age 15 and older) in Honduras, it is estimated that over 492,000 of them may have developed PTSD due to Hurricane Mitch.
Sistemas de salud mental en El Salvador, Guatemala y Nicaragua: Resultados de una evaluación mediante el WHO-Aims
The authors evaluated the mental health systems of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, using a group of select indicators. The World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) was used to collect data from the nations. The national mental health systems of Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador have serious limitations, especially in primary care, and a marked lack of qualified human resources. Budget allocat…
Extender la reforma por medio de nuevas acciones de salud mental
Common mental disorders in immigrant and second-generation respondents: Results from the Israel-based World Mental Health Survey
Results showed disparities in the mental health measures in both generations. It is likely that social causation factors, such as restricted opportunities in the context of higher aspirations, partially account for the findings
Ethnic disparities in mental health treatment gap in a community-based survey and in access to care in psychiatric clinics
BACKGROUND: Contrasting social status of ethnic groups differentially impacts the use of psychiatric services, including in Israel, despite its universal health system. However, relevant studies are limited. AIMS: To examine ethnic differences in mental health treatment gap and in access to specialized care. METHODS: Data were gathered from two sources. Study I included Mizrahi (Jews of North African/Asian origin, socially disadvantaged, n = 136)…
Violence and Mental Health: Its Manifold Faces
Mental health stigma and attitudes to psychiatry among Bangladeshi medical students
BACKGROUND: The shortage of specialized human resources in mental health in Bangladesh requires active recruitment of psychiatric residents. In addition, the involvement of positively inclined health personnel, for example, medical doctors, emerges as an immediate priority. AIM: To explore stigma among medical students toward persons with mental disorders (PMDs) and their attitudes toward psychiatry. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted …
Excess mortality in persons with severe mental disorders: A multilevel intervention framework and priorities for clinical practice, policy and research agendas
Excess mortality in persons with severe mental disorders (SMD) is a major public health challenge that warrants action. The number and scope of truly tested interventions in this area remain limited, and strategies for implementation and scaling up of programmes with a strong evidence base are scarce. Furthermore, the majority of available interventions focus on a single or an otherwise limited number of risk factors. Here we present a multilevel…
Psychiatry (18 works) · Medicine (16 works) · Psychology (16 works) · Mental Health Treatment and Access (15 works) · Mental health (10 works) · Political science (9 works) · Clinical Psychology (8 works) · Migration, Health and Trauma (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (6 works)