Four out of five DS children now survive at least 10 years. Adequate educational and health service provision needs to be made for them, especially those with congenital heart defects. The need for studies which compare survival and quality of life in DS children with CAVD who undergo cardiac surgery versus those who do not, taking account of various selection factors, is identified.

Background The aim of the study was to explore the implementation of school based diet and physical activity interventions with respect to the barriers and facilitators to adoption, implementation and sustainability; supportive actions required for implementation and recommendations to overcome identified barriers. Two interventions rolled out nationally in Ireland were chosen; Food Dudes, a programme to encourage primary school children to consume more fruit and vegetables and Green Schools Travel (GST), an active travel to school programme in primary and secondary schools. Trained school coordinators (teachers) cascade the programmes to other teaching staff. Methods Multiple case study design using qualitative semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders: primary and secondary school teachers, school coordinators, project coordinators/managers, funders and intermediaries. Fifteen interviews were conducted. Data were coded using a common categorization matrix. Thematic analysis was undertaken using the Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance elements of the RE-AIM implementation framework. Results Good working relationships within and across government departments, intermediaries and schools were critical for intervention adoption, successful implementation and sustainability. Organisational and leadership ability of coordinators were essential. Provision of participation incentives acted as motivators to engage children’s interest. A deep understanding of the lives of the target children was an important contextual factor. The importance of adaptation without compromising core components in enhancing intervention sustainability emerged. Successful implementation was hindered by: funding insecurity, school timetable constraints, broad rather than specific intervention core components, and lack of agreement on conduct of programme evaluation. Supportive actions for maintenance included ongoing political support, secure funding and pre-existing healthy lifestyle policies. Conclusions Successful implementation and scale up of public health anti-obesity interventions in schools is dependent on good contextual fit, engagement and leadership at multiple levels and secure funding. Recommendations to overcome barriers include: capacity to deliver within an already overcrowded curriculum and clear specification of intervention components within a conceptual framework to facilitate evaluation. Our findings are generalisable across different contexts and are highly relevant to those involved in the development or adaptation, organisation or execution of national public health interventions: policy makers, guidelines developers, and staff involved in local organisation and delivery. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-6368-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objectives To assess whether late surfactant treatment of extremely low gestational age newborn (ELGAN) infants requiring ventilation at 7–14 days, who often have surfactant deficiency and dysfunction, safely improves survival without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Study design ELGAN infants (≤ 28 0/7 weeks) who required mechanical ventilation at 7–14 days were enrolled in a randomized, masked controlled trial at 25 US centers. All infants received inhaled nitric oxide (INO) and either surfactant (calfactant/Infasurf®) or sham instillation every 1–3 days to a maximum of 5 doses while intubated. The primary outcome was survival at 36 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) without BPD, evaluated by physiologic oxygen/flow reduction. Results Between January 2010 and September 2013, 511 infants were enrolled. There were no differences between treatment groups in mean birth weight (701±164 g), gestational age (25.2±1.2 weeks), percentage <26 weeks (70.6%), race, sex, severity of lung disease at enrollment, or co-morbidities of prematurity. Survival without BPD was not different between treated vs. controls at 36 weeks PMA (31.3% vs. 31.7%; relative benefit 0.98 (95% CI: 0.75, 1.28 p=0.89) or 40 weeks (58.7% vs. 54.1%; relative benefit 1.08:0.92, 1.27 p=0.33). There were no differences between groups in serious adverse events, co-morbidities of prematurity, nor in the severity of lung disease to 36 weeks. Conclusions Late treatment with up to 5 doses of surfactant in ventilated premature infants receiving iNO was well tolerated but did not improve survival without BPD at 36 or 40 weeks. Pulmonary and neurodevelopmental assessments are ongoing.

BackgroundThe uptake, implementation, and maintenance of effective interventions promoting physical activity (PA) and a healthy diet and the implementation of policies targeting these behaviors are processes not well understood. We aimed to gain a better understanding of what health promotion professionals and policy makers think are important factors facilitating adoption, implementation, and maintenance of multi-level interventions and policies promoting healthy eating and PA in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and Poland.MethodsSix interventions and six policies were identified based on pre-defined criteria. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders from various sectors to elicit information on factors impacting adoption, implementation, and maintenance of these interventions and policies. All interview transcripts were coded in NVivo, using a common categorization matrix. Coding in the respective countries was done by one researcher and validated by a second researcher.ResultsActive involvement of relevant stakeholders and good communication between coordinating organizations were described as important factors contributing to successful adoption and implementation of both interventions and policies. Additional facilitating factors included sufficient training of staff and tailoring of materials to match needs of various target groups. The respondents indicated that maintenance of implemented interventions/policies depended on whether they were embedded in existing or newly created organizational structures in different settings and whether continued funding was secured.ConclusionsDespite considerable heterogeneity of interventions and health policies in the five countries, stakeholders across these countries identify similar factors facilitating adoption, implementation, and maintenance of these interventions and policies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-017-4929-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundTobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in Ireland with almost 6000 smokers dying each year from smoking-related diseases. The ‘We Can Quit2’ (WCQ2) study is a pilot pragmatic two-arm, parallel-group, cluster randomised trial that aims to explore the feasibility and acceptability of trial processes including recruitment and to estimate parameters to inform sample size estimates needed for an effectiveness trial. This future trial will assess the effectiveness of a community-based smoking cessation intervention for women living in disadvantaged areas on short- and medium-term cessation rates.Methods/designFour matched pairs of districts (eight clusters) selected by area level of deprivation, geographical proximity, and eligibility for free medical services will be randomised to receive either WCQ (behavioural support + access to Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)) delivered over 12 weeks by trained Community Facilitators (CFs) or to a form of usual care, a one-to-one smoking cessation service delivered by Smoking Cessation Officers from Ireland’s national health service, the Health Service Executive (HSE). Within each cluster, 24–25 women will be recruited (97 per arm; 194 in total) in 4 phases with consent obtained prior to cluster randomisation. The outcome measures will assess feasibility and acceptability of trial processes, including randomisation. Outcome data for a future definitive intervention (biochemically validated smoking abstinence) will be collected at end of programme (12 weeks) and at 6 months. WCQ2 has an embedded process evaluation using both qualitative and quantitative methods. This will be conducted (semi-structured client and CF interviews, intervention delivery checklist, and diary) to explore acceptability of trial processes, intervention fidelity, trial context, and implementation. Trial processes will be assessed against domains of the PRECIS-2 wheel to inform a future definitive trial design.DiscussionData from this pilot trial will inform the design and sample size for a full cluster randomised trial to determine the effectiveness of an intervention tailored to disadvantaged women in improving smoking cessation rates. It will provide transferable learning on the systems and implementation strategies needed to support effective design of future pragmatic community-based trials which address health promotion interventions for women in disadvantaged communities.Trial registrationConcurrent to publication. Controlled trials ISRCTN74721694.