Reviewer's report
Title:Clinical Impact of Body Mass Index on Bactibilia and Bacteremia
Version:2Date:6 May 2014
Reviewer: Christopher L Bowlus
Reviewer's report:
This manuscript describes a retrospective study of cholecystectomies performed
for acute cholecystitis at a single hospital in Korea and sought to find
associations with bactibilia and bactermia, both of which are predictors of illness
severity. The findings of the association with BMI are novel but there are major
concerns regarding the validity of the associations. In addition, the significance of
the findings are limited.
Major Compulsory Revisions
1. The number of cases excluded from analysis was more than 50% of the
original cohort. This likely led to significant bias in the sample that was analyzed.
In addition, other clinical outcomes would be more meaningful that bactibilia or
bacteremia, e.g. length of hospital stay, complications, morbidity, etc., and could
lead to the inclusion of a greater sample. A separate or ancillary study of the
cohort to determine if the association with BMI holds should be performed.
2. The lack of any evidence of an association of BMI with either bactibilia or
bactermia on univariate analysis (P-values > 0.5), yet significant associations on
multivariate analysis suggests that this association is incorrect or a statistical
aberration. An explanation for this from an expert biostatistician is required.
Minor Revisions:
The tables detailing the microbiology is not particularly relevant to this study and
could be abbreviated or excluded. A more thorough description of the patient
population would be of more value.
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Reviewer's report
Title:Clinical Impact of Body Mass Index on Bactibilia and Bacteremia
Version:2Date:6 May 2014
Reviewer: Christopher L Bowlus
Reviewer's report:
This manuscript describes a retrospective study of cholecystectomies performed
for acute cholecystitis at a single hospital in Korea and sought to find
associations with bactibilia and bactermia, both of which are predictors of illness
severity. The findings of the association with BMI are novel but there are major
concerns regarding the validity of the associations. In addition, the significance of
the findings are limited.
Major Compulsory Revisions
1. The number of cases excluded from analysis was more than 50% of the
original cohort. This likely led to significant bias in the sample that was analyzed.
In addition, other clinical outcomes would be more meaningful that bactibilia or
bacteremia, e.g. length of hospital stay, complications, morbidity, etc., and could
lead to the inclusion of a greater sample. A separate or ancillary study of the
cohort to determine if the association with BMI holds should be performed.
2. The lack of any evidence of an association of BMI with either bactibilia or
bactermia on univariate analysis (P-values > 0.5), yet significant associations on
multivariate analysis suggests that this association is incorrect or a statistical
aberration. An explanation for this from an expert biostatistician is required.
Minor Revisions:
The tables detailing the microbiology is not particularly relevant to this study and
could be abbreviated or excluded. A more thorough description of the patient
population would be of more value.
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report
Title:Clinical Impact of Body Mass Index on Bactibilia and Bacteremia
Version:2Date:6 May 2014
Reviewer: Christopher L Bowlus
Reviewer's report:
This manuscript describes a retrospective study of cholecystectomies performed
for acute cholecystitis at a single hospital in Korea and sought to find
associations with bactibilia and bactermia, both of which are predictors of illness
severity. The findings of the association with BMI are novel but there are major
concerns regarding the validity of the associations. In addition, the significance of
the findings are limited.
Major Compulsory Revisions
1. The number of cases excluded from analysis was more than 50% of the
original cohort. This likely led to significant bias in the sample that was analyzed.
In addition, other clinical outcomes would be more meaningful that bactibilia or
bacteremia, e.g. length of hospital stay, complications, morbidity, etc., and could
lead to the inclusion of a greater sample. A separate or ancillary study of the
cohort to determine if the association with BMI holds should be performed.
2. The lack of any evidence of an association of BMI with either bactibilia or
bactermia on univariate analysis (P-values > 0.5), yet significant associations on
multivariate analysis suggests that this association is incorrect or a statistical
aberration. An explanation for this from an expert biostatistician is required.
Minor Revisions:
The tables detailing the microbiology is not particularly relevant to this study and
could be abbreviated or excluded. A more thorough description of the patient
population would be of more value.
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
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