Reviewer's report
Title:Applicability of a short/rapid 13C-urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori: a
retrospective multicenter chart review study
Version: 1Date:5 April 2011
Reviewer: Rodrigo Machado
Reviewer's report:
Minor essential revisions
1. Inconclusive results should be defined. Also, a reference should be provided
for the reference values (the previous validation study).
2. Results. If data in table 2 was analyzed using p for trend (degree of freedom =
1), it should be stated.
3. Conclusions are different in the text and in the abstract - in the text there is no
statement suggesting shortening the test to 10-13 min (Text: the test required
less than 10 min). Both are not exact. The mean duration was 10.24 min with SD
of 2.43 in Germany, for instance - it means that 2.5% have a duration larger than
15 min (as noted, max was over 20).
4. In order to further clarify this point, authors could state the proportion of tests
that would be inconclusive or false negative with the test lasting up to a given
time (such as 10 or 13 min).
5. References 14 and 15 are 7 and 8. Also, journals abbreviations should be
corrected (ref 2, 13). Also, ref 20 - the term "pylori" is lacking.
Discretionary revisions
1. Basic demographic data could be included to describe the study population
(gender, age distribution - at least min and max).
2. Advantages of shortening the test should be discussed as well as study
limitations.
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
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 interests.
Reviewer's report
Title:Applicability of a short/rapid 13C-urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori: a
retrospective multicenter chart review study
Version: 1Date:5 April 2011
Reviewer: Rodrigo Machado
Reviewer's report:
Minor essential revisions
1. Inconclusive results should be defined. Also, a reference should be provided
for the reference values (the previous validation study).
2. Results. If data in table 2 was analyzed using p for trend (degree of freedom =
1), it should be stated.
3. Conclusions are different in the text and in the abstract - in the text there is no
statement suggesting shortening the test to 10-13 min (Text: the test required
less than 10 min). Both are not exact. The mean duration was 10.24 min with SD
of 2.43 in Germany, for instance - it means that 2.5% have a duration larger than
15 min (as noted, max was over 20).
4. In order to further clarify this point, authors could state the proportion of tests
that would be inconclusive or false negative with the test lasting up to a given
time (such as 10 or 13 min).
5. References 14 and 15 are 7 and 8. Also, journals abbreviations should be
corrected (ref 2, 13). Also, ref 20 - the term "pylori" is lacking.
Discretionary revisions
1. Basic demographic data could be included to describe the study population
(gender, age distribution - at least min and max).
2. Advantages of shortening the test should be discussed as well as study
limitations.
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
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 interests.
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report
Title:Applicability of a short/rapid 13C-urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori: a
retrospective multicenter chart review study
Version: 1Date:5 April 2011
Reviewer: Rodrigo Machado
Reviewer's report:
Minor essential revisions
1. Inconclusive results should be defined. Also, a reference should be provided
for the reference values (the previous validation study).
2. Results. If data in table 2 was analyzed using p for trend (degree of freedom =
1), it should be stated.
3. Conclusions are different in the text and in the abstract - in the text there is no
statement suggesting shortening the test to 10-13 min (Text: the test required
less than 10 min). Both are not exact. The mean duration was 10.24 min with SD
of 2.43 in Germany, for instance - it means that 2.5% have a duration larger than
15 min (as noted, max was over 20).
4. In order to further clarify this point, authors could state the proportion of tests
that would be inconclusive or false negative with the test lasting up to a given
time (such as 10 or 13 min).
5. References 14 and 15 are 7 and 8. Also, journals abbreviations should be
corrected (ref 2, 13). Also, ref 20 - the term "pylori" is lacking.
Discretionary revisions
1. Basic demographic data could be included to describe the study population
(gender, age distribution - at least min and max).
2. Advantages of shortening the test should be discussed as well as study
limitations.
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
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 interests.
assistant