Identifying the gaps in Irish cancer care: Patient, public and providers' perspectives.

Background: The University of Limerick Cancer network (ULCaN) was established in 2019 with funding from the Health Research Institute at the University of Limerick in order to build a network between individuals in academia, primary and secondary care and the general public so that cancer services can be coordinated and more effective. The aim of this paper is to outline our experience of engaging with stakeholders to identify gaps in the cancer journey locally.

Methods: Four focus group discussions were conducted with patients; their carers; members of the public; and healthcare providers with 2 main aims: 1) to investigate gaps in cancer services; 2) to identify knowledge, attitudes and opportunities available to promote cancer research.

Exercise portrayal in children's television programs: analysis of the UK and Irish programming.

Background: Television watching is obesogenic due to its sedentary nature and programming content, which influences children. Few studies have examined exercise placement within children-specific programming. This study aimed to investigate the frequency and type of exercise placement in children-specific television broadcasts and to compare placements on the UK and Irish television channels.

Food and beverage cues in children's television programmes: the influence of programme genre.

Objective: The link between childhood obesity and both television viewing and television advertising have previously been examined. We sought to investigate the frequency and type of food and beverage placements in children-specific television broadcasts and, in particular, differences between programme genres.

Method: Content of five weekdays of children-specific television broadcasting on both UK (BBC) and Irish (RTE) television channels was summarized.

The probiotic VSL#3 has anti-inflammatory effects and could reduce endoscopic recurrence after surgery for Crohn's disease.

Background & Aims: Probiotic formulations of single species of bacteria have not been effective in preventing the recurrence of Crohn's disease after surgery. We investigated the ability of VSL#3, a mixture of 8 different bacterial probiotic species, to prevent Crohn's disease recurrence after surgery in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Methods: Within 30 days of ileocolonic resection and re-anastomosis, patients with Crohn's disease were randomly assigned to groups given 1 sachet of VSL#3 (900 billion viable bacteria, comprising 4 strains of Lactobacillus, 3 strains of Bifidobacterium, and 1 strain of Streptococcus salivarius subspecies thermophilus) (n = 59) or matching placebo (n = 60).

Food and beverage cues in UK and Irish children-television programming.

Objectives: Increased time in which children spend watching television is a well-described contributor to paediatric obesity. This study investigated the frequency and type of food and beverage placement in children-specific television broadcasts and compared data from UK (UK) and Irish television stations.

Design: Content analysis, totalling 82.

Children in hospital in Ireland--what do they eat and what do they weigh: a cross-sectional study.

Unlabelled: Overweight and obesity is a growing problem in Ireland. Many parents are unaware when their child is overweight or obese. Our objectives were to examine parents' perceptions of a healthy diet and their children's BMI; and to evaluate the food offered to children in our paediatric in-patient unit.

Systematic review of the quality of patient information on the internet regarding inflammatory bowel disease treatments.

Background & Aims: Patients use the Internet as a resource for information about their diseases. A systematic review evaluating the quality of information available for inflammatory bowel disease patients on the Internet regarding treatment options was performed.

Methods: Google was used to identify 50 websites on 3 occasions.

Bleeding and perforation after outpatient colonoscopy and their risk factors in usual clinical practice.

Background & Aims: The most widely quoted complication rates for colonoscopy are from case series performed by expert endoscopists. Our objectives were to evaluate the rates of bleeding, perforation, and death associated with outpatient colonoscopy and their risk factors in a population-based study.

Methods: We identified all individuals 50 to 75 years old who underwent an outpatient colonoscopy during April 1, 2002, to March 31, 2003, in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, Canada.

What are we going to do with you? Gastroenterology service providers' perceptions of "difficult to manage" IBD patients.

Background: This paper reports the results of a systematic survey of members of a clinical gastroenterology service to determine their perceptions of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who were deemed to function poorly and were difficult to manage clinically.

Objectives: To assess objectively the defining characteristics of this perceived subgroup of patients who are encountered in virtually all gastroenterology services.

Methods: A sample of gastroenterologists and gastrointestinal surgeons (n=10), as well as gastrointestinal nurses (n=19), was surveyed regarding their beliefs about the characteristics of patients with IBD who they judged to be extremely "difficult to manage".