Table 2

Ranking of themes by the external panel (round 1, n=60)

Theme	Average ranking*	Top 10 count†	Top 5 count†	Top 1 count†
Education of very preterm infants	4.6	44	18	3
Care and outcomes of extremely preterm birth, including ethical decisions	4.5	38	23	8
Growth and nutrition, including breast feeding	4.1	36	19	7
Emotional well-being and social inclusion	3.5	33	13	2
Parental stress	3.5	33	14	4
Impact of social circumstances on outcomes	3.5	31	15	6
Obstetrical and neonatal unit organisation and practices, including policies towards parents	3.2	29	14	5
Perinatal factors/treatments and long-term complications	3.1	28	15	4
Minor impairments and impact on learning and quality of life	3.0	27	11	1
Changes in disability status over time	2.8	27	10	3
Autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder	2.3	23	7	1
Cardiometabolic and pulmonary outcomes	2.3	20	11	2
Epigenetics/Genetic markers of poor outcomes	2.1	21	6	2
Motor development	2.0	20	8	0
Very preterm children from migrant families	2.0	22	7	0
Very severe fetal growth restriction	1.9	18	10	2
Intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH), including severe and less severe lesions	1.6	15	6	2
Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC)	1.6	16	4	1
Multiples	1.4	14	3	0
The wider environment (environmental and neighbourhood exposures)	1.2	10	6	2
Cerebral palsy (CP), including linking to CP registers	1.2	13	1	1
Maternal obesity and/or diabetes	1.0	10	3	0
Sub-fertility treatment	0.9	11	3	0
Validating predictive models of hospitalisation after discharge	0.9	9	3	1
Severe maternal morbidity during childbirth	0.9	10	3	0
Malformations	0.9	9	3	1
Older maternal age	0.9	9	3	0
Neurosensory impairments (blindness and deafness)	0.7	6	3	2