Factors affecting hospitalization for selected diseases in Israel.

Hospitalization rates in Israel for five communicable and four noncommunicable diseases were computed according to age, sex, religion, origin, and place of residence. Higher rates for communicable diseases were generally found for all males and for Oriental Jews and Jews living in rural areas. Higher rates were also found for settlements inhabited by low socioeconomic populations. With few exceptions, hospitalization rates for Arabs were higher for both communicable and noncommunicable diseases, but rates for rural Arab populations were very low. These findings suggest that in a society such as Israel's, with a well-developed medical care delivery system, improvement in the health status of less privileged groups will depend more on health education than on the addition of resources to the health delivery system.