PGPH-D-22-01013

Perceived quality of care and choice of healthcare provider in informal settlements

PLOS Global Public Health

Dear Dr. Conlan,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS Global Public Health. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS Global Public Health’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Oct 16 2022 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at globalpubhealth@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pgph/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

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• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
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• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Anteneh Asefa Mekonnen

Academic Editor

PLOS Global Public Health

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Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Does this manuscript meet PLOS Global Public Health’s publication criteria? Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe methodologically and ethically rigorous research with conclusions that are appropriately drawn based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: I don't know

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available (please refer to the Data Availability Statement at the start of the manuscript PDF file)?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception. The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS Global Public Health does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Interesting ms...it runs counter to what we experience in LMICs e.g., in Bangladesh (Ref: http://www.health-policy-systems.com/content/5/1/1; http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/11/S2/S8; HEALTH POLICY AND PLANNING LANNING;15(1):95-102 )...the current findings need to be discussed in the context of findings from e.g., LMICs in Asia (relevant literature is conspicuously absent)!!

Second, the ms need to be examined critically for statistical calculations of variables such as 'access cost', 'attractiveness index', 'perceived quality', 'bypass behaviour' etc. with appropriate conceptual background and appropriate references! not clear if the QoC is better in Kemya/Nigeria than in BD (ref please)!

In the limitations, quite a few critical confounder is mentioned...despite these, the argument of the paper/validity of the data should be questioned...isn't the conclusions a little too ambitious?

'If the quality gradient suggested by the Lancet series and by our findings is confirmed, then the development of services should not be tilted in favour of smaller clinics, until quality can be better assured among such providers'. A dangerous policy proposition for the LMICs across the worls, in direct opposition to the theme of renovated PHC for UHC Call (Astana 2018)!

In short, the ms need to be positioned in the context of wider literature on the opic, not only pro but also opposite views to acept the conclusions and policy implications unreserved

Reviewer #2: The manuscript is well written. I have just the following few comments:

1. A key should be provided for Figure 2

2. Figure 3 and Figure 4 are not very clear. In fact, the quality of the figures can be improved. The units of measurement should be indicated in the figures

3. There is a lot of commentary in the presentation of the results. It is good that the authors should reduce the commentary and try to go straight forward to present the results.

4. The discussion section should be expanded to ensure that the evidence of this current study is compared with findings from similar studies in other low and middle income countries such https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-021-06573-3 -Bypassing primary healthcare facilities for maternal healthcare in North West Ghana: socio-economic correlates and financial implications

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For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Syed Masud Ahmed

Reviewer #2: No

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Perceived quality of care and choice of healthcare provider in informal settlements

PGPH-D-22-01013R1

Dear Mr Conlan,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript 'Perceived quality of care and choice of healthcare provider in informal settlements' has been provisionally accepted for publication in PLOS Global Public Health.

Before your manuscript can be formally accepted you will need to complete some formatting changes, which you will receive in a follow up email. A member of our team will be in touch with a set of requests.

Please note that your manuscript will not be scheduled for publication until you have made the required changes, so a swift response is appreciated.

IMPORTANT: The editorial review process is now complete. PLOS will only permit corrections to spelling, formatting or significant scientific errors from this point onwards. Requests for major changes, or any which affect the scientific understanding of your work, will cause delays to the publication date of your manuscript.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact globalpubhealth@plos.org.

Thank you again for supporting Open Access publishing; we are looking forward to publishing your work in PLOS Global Public Health.

Best regards,

Hassan Haghparast Bidgoli

Academic Editor

PLOS Global Public Health

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Thank you for addressing the comments raised by the reviewers. There is no further comment from the reviewers and the editor.

Reviewer Comments (if any, and for reference):

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Does this manuscript meet PLOS Global Public Health’s publication criteria? Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe methodologically and ethically rigorous research with conclusions that are appropriately drawn based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available (please refer to the Data Availability Statement at the start of the manuscript PDF file)?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception. The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS Global Public Health does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: No more comments, thnaks!

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Prof. Syed Masud Ahmed, BRAC JPG School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh.

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