Title: Prognostic Risk Factors for Pyogenic Liver Abscess Caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae
Version: 7 Date: 27 Jul 2024
Reviewer:  Ehab Elmongui
Reviewer's report:
Dear Authors,
Thank you for your insightful study on prognostic risk factors for pyogenic liver abscess caused
by K. pneumoniae. To ensure the methodological quality and clarity of your research, and
to justify the choice of logistic regression over other potential methods, it is crucial that the
following points are addressed thoroughly:
Flow Diagram Clarification:
• The flow diagram should clearly indicate the total number of patients admitted to the hospital
during the study period and the number of patients who met the diagnostic criteria for pyogenic
liver abscess (PLA) caused by K. pneumoniae.
• Additionally, the flow diagram should detail the number of patients who developed each of
the studied outcomes, especially if all outcomes are listed as primary outcomes.
Justification of logistic Regression Analysis:
Although I found no mistakes in the statistical analysis, the choice of logistic regression over
survival analysis in this prognostic study requires robust justification. Specifically, please
address the following points:
• Is the time to event (such as positive blood culture, septic shock, ICU admission after diagnosis)
not relevant in this context?
• Was there no loss to follow-up among the patients?
• The duration of follow-up for patients diagnosed with PLA caused by K. pneumoniae is not
mentioned. Was the follow-up period sufficient to capture all relevant outcomes?
Presentation of Results:
• There is no need to mention the estimates of non-significant factors in the text, as they are
already included in the tables. Instead, focus on presenting the significant factors along with
their 95% confidence intervals and p-values in both the results section and the abstract.
• Make the rounding of estimates to two decimals only while those of p values to three decimals.
Ehab Elmongui
Biostatistician
Title: Prognostic Risk Factors for Pyogenic Liver Abscess Caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae
Version: 7 Date: 27 Jul 2024
Reviewer:  Ehab Elmongui
Reviewer's report:
Dear Authors,
Thank you for your insightful study on prognostic risk factors for pyogenic liver abscess caused
by K. pneumoniae. To ensure the methodological quality and clarity of your research, and
to justify the choice of logistic regression over other potential methods, it is crucial that the
following points are addressed thoroughly:
Flow Diagram Clarification:
• The flow diagram should clearly indicate the total number of patients admitted to the hospital
during the study period and the number of patients who met the diagnostic criteria for pyogenic
liver abscess (PLA) caused by K. pneumoniae.
• Additionally, the flow diagram should detail the number of patients who developed each of
the studied outcomes, especially if all outcomes are listed as primary outcomes.
Justification of logistic Regression Analysis:
Although I found no mistakes in the statistical analysis, the choice of logistic regression over
survival analysis in this prognostic study requires robust justification. Specifically, please
address the following points:
• Is the time to event (such as positive blood culture, septic shock, ICU admission after diagnosis)
not relevant in this context?
• Was there no loss to follow-up among the patients?
• The duration of follow-up for patients diagnosed with PLA caused by K. pneumoniae is not
mentioned. Was the follow-up period sufficient to capture all relevant outcomes?
Presentation of Results:
• There is no need to mention the estimates of non-significant factors in the text, as they are
already included in the tables. Instead, focus on presenting the significant factors along with
their 95% confidence intervals and p-values in both the results section and the abstract.
• Make the rounding of estimates to two decimals only while those of p values to three decimals.
Ehab Elmongui
Biostatistician
Please review this paper.
user
Title: Prognostic Risk Factors for Pyogenic Liver Abscess Caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae
Version: 7 Date: 27 Jul 2024
Reviewer:  Ehab Elmongui
Reviewer's report:
Dear Authors,
Thank you for your insightful study on prognostic risk factors for pyogenic liver abscess caused
by K. pneumoniae. To ensure the methodological quality and clarity of your research, and
to justify the choice of logistic regression over other potential methods, it is crucial that the
following points are addressed thoroughly:
Flow Diagram Clarification:
• The flow diagram should clearly indicate the total number of patients admitted to the hospital
during the study period and the number of patients who met the diagnostic criteria for pyogenic
liver abscess (PLA) caused by K. pneumoniae.
• Additionally, the flow diagram should detail the number of patients who developed each of
the studied outcomes, especially if all outcomes are listed as primary outcomes.
Justification of logistic Regression Analysis:
Although I found no mistakes in the statistical analysis, the choice of logistic regression over
survival analysis in this prognostic study requires robust justification. Specifically, please
address the following points:
• Is the time to event (such as positive blood culture, septic shock, ICU admission after diagnosis)
not relevant in this context?
• Was there no loss to follow-up among the patients?
• The duration of follow-up for patients diagnosed with PLA caused by K. pneumoniae is not
mentioned. Was the follow-up period sufficient to capture all relevant outcomes?
Presentation of Results:
• There is no need to mention the estimates of non-significant factors in the text, as they are
already included in the tables. Instead, focus on presenting the significant factors along with
their 95% confidence intervals and p-values in both the results section and the abstract.
• Make the rounding of estimates to two decimals only while those of p values to three decimals.
Ehab Elmongui
Biostatistician
assistant