Reviewer's report
Title:Clinical predictors of incident gallstone disease in a Chinese population in
Taipei, Taiwan
Version: 2Date:29 August 2013
Reviewer: Tom Bates
Reviewer's report:
Most of the findings of this careful long term study are unsurprising but the
documentation of the incidence (rather than the prevalence) of gallstone disease
(GSD) in a Chinese population, albeit in Taiwan, is important.
1. There are very few studies of the incidence of GSD and it is of interest that the
prevalence (c 5%) and the incidence (c 0.6% pa.) differ very little from two Italian
studies, 10 years apart - GREPCO (1998) and MICOH (2008). This may suggest
that the diet of the Chinese in Taiwan is already Westernised.
2. The references (p8) "was slightly lower than other evidence-based studies
[2,9]" should read [2,10].
3. It is unfortunate that the proportion of the population lost to follow up was in
the higher risk categories for GSD. This deficiency is likely to have under
recorded the overall incidence but this is clearly documented and acknowledged.
However Table 1 indicates that the older population had a higher attendance rate
which requires some explanation.
4. This sample of the population was probably unrepresentative in addition to the
stated self-selected hospital-based patients, in that those aged 60 or over were
only 18% of the sample and yet developed 48% of the gallstones.
5. The statement (p9) "that the findings show that females do not have a
significantly higher incidence of all types of GSD than males" is almost certainly a
Type II error due to small numbers, since the Relative Risk is 2.1.
6. The manuscript is well written although there are occasional phrases the
meaning of which is uncertain.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
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 predictors of incident gallstone disease in a Chinese population in
Taipei, Taiwan
Version: 2Date:29 August 2013
Reviewer: Tom Bates
Reviewer's report:
Most of the findings of this careful long term study are unsurprising but the
documentation of the incidence (rather than the prevalence) of gallstone disease
(GSD) in a Chinese population, albeit in Taiwan, is important.
1. There are very few studies of the incidence of GSD and it is of interest that the
prevalence (c 5%) and the incidence (c 0.6% pa.) differ very little from two Italian
studies, 10 years apart - GREPCO (1998) and MICOH (2008). This may suggest
that the diet of the Chinese in Taiwan is already Westernised.
2. The references (p8) "was slightly lower than other evidence-based studies
[2,9]" should read [2,10].
3. It is unfortunate that the proportion of the population lost to follow up was in
the higher risk categories for GSD. This deficiency is likely to have under
recorded the overall incidence but this is clearly documented and acknowledged.
However Table 1 indicates that the older population had a higher attendance rate
which requires some explanation.
4. This sample of the population was probably unrepresentative in addition to the
stated self-selected hospital-based patients, in that those aged 60 or over were
only 18% of the sample and yet developed 48% of the gallstones.
5. The statement (p9) "that the findings show that females do not have a
significantly higher incidence of all types of GSD than males" is almost certainly a
Type II error due to small numbers, since the Relative Risk is 2.1.
6. The manuscript is well written although there are occasional phrases the
meaning of which is uncertain.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
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 predictors of incident gallstone disease in a Chinese population in
Taipei, Taiwan
Version: 2Date:29 August 2013
Reviewer: Tom Bates
Reviewer's report:
Most of the findings of this careful long term study are unsurprising but the
documentation of the incidence (rather than the prevalence) of gallstone disease
(GSD) in a Chinese population, albeit in Taiwan, is important.
1. There are very few studies of the incidence of GSD and it is of interest that the
prevalence (c 5%) and the incidence (c 0.6% pa.) differ very little from two Italian
studies, 10 years apart - GREPCO (1998) and MICOH (2008). This may suggest
that the diet of the Chinese in Taiwan is already Westernised.
2. The references (p8) "was slightly lower than other evidence-based studies
[2,9]" should read [2,10].
3. It is unfortunate that the proportion of the population lost to follow up was in
the higher risk categories for GSD. This deficiency is likely to have under
recorded the overall incidence but this is clearly documented and acknowledged.
However Table 1 indicates that the older population had a higher attendance rate
which requires some explanation.
4. This sample of the population was probably unrepresentative in addition to the
stated self-selected hospital-based patients, in that those aged 60 or over were
only 18% of the sample and yet developed 48% of the gallstones.
5. The statement (p9) "that the findings show that females do not have a
significantly higher incidence of all types of GSD than males" is almost certainly a
Type II error due to small numbers, since the Relative Risk is 2.1.
6. The manuscript is well written although there are occasional phrases the
meaning of which is uncertain.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
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.
assistant