Reviewer's report
Title:Clinical predictors of incident gallstone disease in a Chinese population in
Taipei, Taiwan
Version: 2Date:2 September 2013
Reviewer: davide festi
Reviewer's report:
Major compulsory revisions.
The study of Liu et al deals with an important clinical problem, i.e. gallstone
incidence. Several methodological problems are present in the sudy, some of
them are identified by the Authors in the last part of the manuscript.
a) it is not clear how the subjects were enrolled: were the subjects prospectically
enrolled?what was the inclusion criteria?
b) the attendance rate is too low (57.3%) to allow conclusions regarding gallstone
incidence. It would be necessary to have information (presence or absence of
gllstones, history of cholecystectomy) also on subjects who did not participate to
the follow-up (using for example telephone interview).
c) there are no data regarding the clinical picture of gallstones (the percentage of
symptomatic gallstones; the reason for cholecystectomy, etc.)
d) gallstone incidence was higher (although non significant) in female; howver
there are no data regarding the number of pregnancies and the frequency of pill
use.
e) it is well know that dieting is a risk factor for gallstone; no data are present in
the study
f) since all the enrolled subjects underwent ultrasonographic evaluation of the
upper abdomen, information on the frequency of liver steatosis should be useful,
also for better define the result concerning ALT
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interest's below.
Reviewer's report
Title:Clinical predictors of incident gallstone disease in a Chinese population in
Taipei, Taiwan
Version: 2Date:2 September 2013
Reviewer: davide festi
Reviewer's report:
Major compulsory revisions.
The study of Liu et al deals with an important clinical problem, i.e. gallstone
incidence. Several methodological problems are present in the sudy, some of
them are identified by the Authors in the last part of the manuscript.
a) it is not clear how the subjects were enrolled: were the subjects prospectically
enrolled?what was the inclusion criteria?
b) the attendance rate is too low (57.3%) to allow conclusions regarding gallstone
incidence. It would be necessary to have information (presence or absence of
gllstones, history of cholecystectomy) also on subjects who did not participate to
the follow-up (using for example telephone interview).
c) there are no data regarding the clinical picture of gallstones (the percentage of
symptomatic gallstones; the reason for cholecystectomy, etc.)
d) gallstone incidence was higher (although non significant) in female; howver
there are no data regarding the number of pregnancies and the frequency of pill
use.
e) it is well know that dieting is a risk factor for gallstone; no data are present in
the study
f) since all the enrolled subjects underwent ultrasonographic evaluation of the
upper abdomen, information on the frequency of liver steatosis should be useful,
also for better define the result concerning ALT
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interest's below.
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report
Title:Clinical predictors of incident gallstone disease in a Chinese population in
Taipei, Taiwan
Version: 2Date:2 September 2013
Reviewer: davide festi
Reviewer's report:
Major compulsory revisions.
The study of Liu et al deals with an important clinical problem, i.e. gallstone
incidence. Several methodological problems are present in the sudy, some of
them are identified by the Authors in the last part of the manuscript.
a) it is not clear how the subjects were enrolled: were the subjects prospectically
enrolled?what was the inclusion criteria?
b) the attendance rate is too low (57.3%) to allow conclusions regarding gallstone
incidence. It would be necessary to have information (presence or absence of
gllstones, history of cholecystectomy) also on subjects who did not participate to
the follow-up (using for example telephone interview).
c) there are no data regarding the clinical picture of gallstones (the percentage of
symptomatic gallstones; the reason for cholecystectomy, etc.)
d) gallstone incidence was higher (although non significant) in female; howver
there are no data regarding the number of pregnancies and the frequency of pill
use.
e) it is well know that dieting is a risk factor for gallstone; no data are present in
the study
f) since all the enrolled subjects underwent ultrasonographic evaluation of the
upper abdomen, information on the frequency of liver steatosis should be useful,
also for better define the result concerning ALT
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interest's below.
assistant