Reviewer's report
Title:Prevalence and determinants of biochemical dysfunction of the liver in
Atayal aboriginal community of Taiwan: Is betel nut chewing a risk factor?
Version: 3Date:27 December 2007
Reviewer: Eric M Yoshida
Reviewer's report:
My overall impression, after reading the re-revised manuscript submission is that
the manuscript is one of interest. This manuscript provides rare insight into the
health-problems, especially those pertaining to hepatology, of the Aboriginal
community of Taiwan from a public health perspective. Although most likely
articles about this community are published in local Taiwainese medical journals,
the liver disease-related health concerns of this community are not very
well-known outside of Taiwan. This manuscript also provides a great deal of
education regarding the habit of betal quid consumption, the context of its
consumption, and an analysis that suggests that it is an independent risk factor
for abnormal liver biochemistry. The new multiple logistic regression analysis of
the re-revised manuscript suggests that the deleterious hepatologic effects of
betal quid consumption are additive to the effects of chronic viral hepatitis (note,
"additive" not "synergistic" since I do not believe that the analysis can support a
finding of "synergy" where the effects of the two factors would be multiplative).
My only main question regarding this analysis is whether the investigators
controlled for BMI in their new analysis (ie. they controlled for alcohol, cigarette
smoking etc).
Another concern that should be easily addressed, is the fact that the new
manuscript appears to have more English composition errors than I recall
reading before. For instance, in the Introduction, one would not state that the
endogenous metabolism of areca nut to hepatotoxic metabolites (ie.
nitrosamines) would be "intravenous" but rather "systemic". Errors like this
appear throughout the re-revised version. Similarly, the abstract needs to be
re-written as it does not adequately reflect the methods or findings reported in the
main paper.
What next?: Accept after minor essential revisions
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:Prevalence and determinants of biochemical dysfunction of the liver in
Atayal aboriginal community of Taiwan: Is betel nut chewing a risk factor?
Version: 3Date:27 December 2007
Reviewer: Eric M Yoshida
Reviewer's report:
My overall impression, after reading the re-revised manuscript submission is that
the manuscript is one of interest. This manuscript provides rare insight into the
health-problems, especially those pertaining to hepatology, of the Aboriginal
community of Taiwan from a public health perspective. Although most likely
articles about this community are published in local Taiwainese medical journals,
the liver disease-related health concerns of this community are not very
well-known outside of Taiwan. This manuscript also provides a great deal of
education regarding the habit of betal quid consumption, the context of its
consumption, and an analysis that suggests that it is an independent risk factor
for abnormal liver biochemistry. The new multiple logistic regression analysis of
the re-revised manuscript suggests that the deleterious hepatologic effects of
betal quid consumption are additive to the effects of chronic viral hepatitis (note,
"additive" not "synergistic" since I do not believe that the analysis can support a
finding of "synergy" where the effects of the two factors would be multiplative).
My only main question regarding this analysis is whether the investigators
controlled for BMI in their new analysis (ie. they controlled for alcohol, cigarette
smoking etc).
Another concern that should be easily addressed, is the fact that the new
manuscript appears to have more English composition errors than I recall
reading before. For instance, in the Introduction, one would not state that the
endogenous metabolism of areca nut to hepatotoxic metabolites (ie.
nitrosamines) would be "intravenous" but rather "systemic". Errors like this
appear throughout the re-revised version. Similarly, the abstract needs to be
re-written as it does not adequately reflect the methods or findings reported in the
main paper.
What next?: Accept after minor essential revisions
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:Prevalence and determinants of biochemical dysfunction of the liver in
Atayal aboriginal community of Taiwan: Is betel nut chewing a risk factor?
Version: 3Date:27 December 2007
Reviewer: Eric M Yoshida
Reviewer's report:
My overall impression, after reading the re-revised manuscript submission is that
the manuscript is one of interest. This manuscript provides rare insight into the
health-problems, especially those pertaining to hepatology, of the Aboriginal
community of Taiwan from a public health perspective. Although most likely
articles about this community are published in local Taiwainese medical journals,
the liver disease-related health concerns of this community are not very
well-known outside of Taiwan. This manuscript also provides a great deal of
education regarding the habit of betal quid consumption, the context of its
consumption, and an analysis that suggests that it is an independent risk factor
for abnormal liver biochemistry. The new multiple logistic regression analysis of
the re-revised manuscript suggests that the deleterious hepatologic effects of
betal quid consumption are additive to the effects of chronic viral hepatitis (note,
"additive" not "synergistic" since I do not believe that the analysis can support a
finding of "synergy" where the effects of the two factors would be multiplative).
My only main question regarding this analysis is whether the investigators
controlled for BMI in their new analysis (ie. they controlled for alcohol, cigarette
smoking etc).
Another concern that should be easily addressed, is the fact that the new
manuscript appears to have more English composition errors than I recall
reading before. For instance, in the Introduction, one would not state that the
endogenous metabolism of areca nut to hepatotoxic metabolites (ie.
nitrosamines) would be "intravenous" but rather "systemic". Errors like this
appear throughout the re-revised version. Similarly, the abstract needs to be
re-written as it does not adequately reflect the methods or findings reported in the
main paper.
What next?: Accept after minor essential revisions
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