Title: Long-term weight change patterns in American adulthood in relation to gallstones:
evidence from NHANES
Version: 0 Date: 24 Feb 2025
Reviewer's report:
Manuscript: Long-term weight change patterns in American adulthood in relation to gallstones:
evidence from NHANES
This manuscript examined the association of body weight change and risk of developing
gallstones among U.S. adults who completed the NHANES 2017-2020. While this an interesting
and potentially valuable manuscript, improvements are needed to clearly communicate the
findings.
Comments
1. Methods, Study population- could the authors elaborate why the study included adults only
within the age range of 40-70?
2. Methods, Statistical analysis- Model 1 is completely unadjusted so it is not surprising that the
results were not statistically significant. It may be more valuable to consider adjusting Model 1
for a minimal number of covariates, such as age, sex, and race.
3. Results
a. Page 8- The first sentence seems repetitive of the Methods section.
b. Page 8- It would be helpful to mention the overall mean or median age of participants at
baseline to better understand the time frame of the weight change estimates. It also seems
important to note that approximately half of the study population were categorized as stable
non-obese.
c. Page 8-9- The second paragraph that describes the baseline characteristics seems more
appropriate as the first paragraph of the Results.
d. Page 9- Is there a reason why the characteristics of only the stable obese group are described?
Other groups appear to have similar characteristics so it seems like it would be more valuable
to highlight important differences between the groups.
e. Page 9 and 10- The ORs and 95% CIs for models 2 and 3 from Supplementary Table 4 and
Table 2 do not match the values listed in the text.
4. Discussion- could the authors comment on the time frame used in the referenced studies that
also examined weight change from early to mid-adulthood? It would be helpful to understand
whether these studies examined a similar or different time frame.
5. Table 2, Supplementary Tables 4 and 5- the asterisks used within the tables are not reflected
in the footnotes.
Title: Long-term weight change patterns in American adulthood in relation to gallstones:
evidence from NHANES
Version: 0 Date: 24 Feb 2025
Reviewer's report:
Manuscript: Long-term weight change patterns in American adulthood in relation to gallstones:
evidence from NHANES
This manuscript examined the association of body weight change and risk of developing
gallstones among U.S. adults who completed the NHANES 2017-2020. While this an interesting
and potentially valuable manuscript, improvements are needed to clearly communicate the
findings.
Comments
1. Methods, Study population- could the authors elaborate why the study included adults only
within the age range of 40-70?
2. Methods, Statistical analysis- Model 1 is completely unadjusted so it is not surprising that the
results were not statistically significant. It may be more valuable to consider adjusting Model 1
for a minimal number of covariates, such as age, sex, and race.
3. Results
a. Page 8- The first sentence seems repetitive of the Methods section.
b. Page 8- It would be helpful to mention the overall mean or median age of participants at
baseline to better understand the time frame of the weight change estimates. It also seems
important to note that approximately half of the study population were categorized as stable
non-obese.
c. Page 8-9- The second paragraph that describes the baseline characteristics seems more
appropriate as the first paragraph of the Results.
d. Page 9- Is there a reason why the characteristics of only the stable obese group are described?
Other groups appear to have similar characteristics so it seems like it would be more valuable
to highlight important differences between the groups.
e. Page 9 and 10- The ORs and 95% CIs for models 2 and 3 from Supplementary Table 4 and
Table 2 do not match the values listed in the text.
4. Discussion- could the authors comment on the time frame used in the referenced studies that
also examined weight change from early to mid-adulthood? It would be helpful to understand
whether these studies examined a similar or different time frame.
5. Table 2, Supplementary Tables 4 and 5- the asterisks used within the tables are not reflected
in the footnotes.
Please review this paper.
user
Title: Long-term weight change patterns in American adulthood in relation to gallstones:
evidence from NHANES
Version: 0 Date: 24 Feb 2025
Reviewer's report:
Manuscript: Long-term weight change patterns in American adulthood in relation to gallstones:
evidence from NHANES
This manuscript examined the association of body weight change and risk of developing
gallstones among U.S. adults who completed the NHANES 2017-2020. While this an interesting
and potentially valuable manuscript, improvements are needed to clearly communicate the
findings.
Comments
1. Methods, Study population- could the authors elaborate why the study included adults only
within the age range of 40-70?
2. Methods, Statistical analysis- Model 1 is completely unadjusted so it is not surprising that the
results were not statistically significant. It may be more valuable to consider adjusting Model 1
for a minimal number of covariates, such as age, sex, and race.
3. Results
a. Page 8- The first sentence seems repetitive of the Methods section.
b. Page 8- It would be helpful to mention the overall mean or median age of participants at
baseline to better understand the time frame of the weight change estimates. It also seems
important to note that approximately half of the study population were categorized as stable
non-obese.
c. Page 8-9- The second paragraph that describes the baseline characteristics seems more
appropriate as the first paragraph of the Results.
d. Page 9- Is there a reason why the characteristics of only the stable obese group are described?
Other groups appear to have similar characteristics so it seems like it would be more valuable
to highlight important differences between the groups.
e. Page 9 and 10- The ORs and 95% CIs for models 2 and 3 from Supplementary Table 4 and
Table 2 do not match the values listed in the text.
4. Discussion- could the authors comment on the time frame used in the referenced studies that
also examined weight change from early to mid-adulthood? It would be helpful to understand
whether these studies examined a similar or different time frame.
5. Table 2, Supplementary Tables 4 and 5- the asterisks used within the tables are not reflected
in the footnotes.
assistant