PONE-D-23-01290

Experiences of patients and their informal caregivers with cognitive stimulation programs for dementia: a qualitative systematic review protocol

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Ryan,

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Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Does the manuscript provide a valid rationale for the proposed study, with clearly identified and justified research questions?

The research question outlined is expected to address a valid academic problem or topic and contribute to the base of knowledge in the field.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Is the protocol technically sound and planned in a manner that will lead to a meaningful outcome and allow testing the stated hypotheses?

The manuscript should describe the methods in sufficient detail to prevent undisclosed flexibility in the experimental procedure or analysis pipeline, including sufficient outcome-neutral conditions (e.g. necessary controls, absence of floor or ceiling effects) to test the proposed hypotheses and a statistical power analysis where applicable. As there may be aspects of the methodology and analysis which can only be refined once the work is undertaken, authors should outline potential assumptions and explicitly describe what aspects of the proposed analyses, if any, are exploratory.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

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3. Is the methodology feasible and described in sufficient detail to allow the work to be replicable?

Descriptions of methods and materials in the protocol should be reported in sufficient detail for another researcher to reproduce all experiments and analyses. The protocol should describe the appropriate controls, sample size calculations, and replication needed to ensure that the data are robust and reproducible.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above and, if applicable, provide comments about issues authors must address before this protocol can be accepted for publication. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about research or publication ethics.

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(Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Thank you for the opportunity to review your manuscript reporting on a systematic review protocol to determine the experiences of individuals with dementia and their caregivers of a cognitive stimulation program. This is an important topic and you have presented a thorough protocol for conducting the review of qualitative studies.

I have some minor suggestions which may improve the quality of the protocol and review.

1. I suggest referring to 'caregiver(s)' as 'informal caregiver(s)' throughout the protocol (including the title). While this clarification is provided in the 'inclusion criteria' section of the manuscript, I believe it would be easier for the reader if you clarified this earlier in the manuscript.

2. Do you plan to conduct any reflexivity exercises with the team who will be synthesising the data?

3. How do you plan to synthesise findings from patients and caregivers? Where possible, will you plan on separating the findings from these two participant groups? Obviously this will be dependent on how individual articles have analysed and reported their findings, but I believe it would be worthwhile outlining how you plan to analyse findings from the two participant groups.

4. I think the discussion could be expanded on by reference to national/international dementia care guidelines and how your findings will complement these guidelines. In recent years there has been an increased focus on dementia care, with an associated increase in the number of clinical practice guidelines, and it would be interesting to consider how your review may contribute to our understanding of current best practice.

Reviewer #2: In review of the protocol ‘Experiences of patients and their informal caregivers with cognitive stimulation programs for dementia: a qualitative systematic review protocol’, I have recommended minor revisions. The proposed qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) will make a strong contribution to the literature. Herewith my minor suggestions for consideration.

Abstract:

16-21: In the first two lines of the abstract, the author tends to foreground the caregivers. I suggest that the voices of those with dementia and the problem statement are highlighted. The rationale for the inclusion of caregivers is not needed in the abstract.

Introduction:

124-134: The description of existing reviews on the similar topic needs to be edited in improve readability. The first review is reported as broad and the second as more specific but neither as comprehensive. Perhaps each review can be critically reported and how the proposed review fills an identified gap.

Methods:

259: Although the methods are well designed, the data synthesis for the meta-aggregation needs some refinement. Specifically, authors should consider providing information on the following.

Who will conduct the synthesis in JBI SUMARI?

Where pooling is not possible who will write the narrative synthesis?

How will credible findings be determined?

Will data be disaggregated for people with dementia and caregivers?

How will the data be presented?

Discussion:

286: The review aim is more descriptive in the discussion that in the abstract in line 19 and in the introduction in line 137. These should be aligned.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this work and I look forward to seeing the findings of the review.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Lynn Hendricks

Please see attached comments

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: Reviewer Comments Dementia Intervention Protocol PLOS May 2023.docx

Experiences of patients and their informal caregivers with cognitive stimulation programs for dementia: a qualitative systematic review protocol

PONE-D-23-01290R1

Dear Dr. Ryan,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Michael Gilbert McCaul, MSc, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: