PONE-D-23-40982Mixed methods approach to examining the implementation experience of a phone-based health research survey investigating risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in CaliforniaPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Pry,

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Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

This study is very interesting, and no major issues were found. Please consider the reviewer comments below, and any changes for improvement will be appreciated.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). 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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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE 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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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: In their manuscript, Fukui and colleagues implemented a test-negative case-control study including participants residing in California to inform the design and implementation strategies of observational research in pandemic settings. Results showed that patients with COVID-19 had a higher odds of answering the phone and consenting to participate in the study, compared to control subjects (COVID-19-negative participants). Also, calls placed from 4pm to 6pm had the highest adjusted odds of being answered. The authors also highlighted aspects of interacting with participants with physical and emotional needs, and documented verbal harassment cases from individuals called.

Although the topic may not currently be up-to-date, the study is appropriately designed and well-written. Consider the following for improvement:

1. Lines 1-3: The manuscript mainly focused on identifying factors that might influence participation in a phone-based research survey. The candidate pool was based on a survey examining risk factors for COVID-19 infection. However, the way the title is phrased implies that risk factors for COVID-19 were actively researched in this paper. Please, revise the title to accurately describe the purpose of the study.

2. Lines 109-110: Based on supplementary figures S2 and S3, a laboratory test was used for determining eligibility for the study. Why is clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 described as an eligibility criterion in the Methods? Were eligible participants recruited based on lab results, clinical symptomatology, or both?

3. The results showed that individuals with COVID-19 had a higher odds of answering the phone and consenting to participate in the study. From the supplementary materials, it seems that participants were asked to comment on their symptoms, if any. Did the authors run a separate analysis comparing patients with COVID-19 who were asymptomatic vs. symptomatic? If no, could such an approach be explored as well? It might be just a speculation, but I think that symptomatic patients would be more willing to participate.

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Reviewer #1: No

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Mixed methods approach to examining the implementation experience of a phone-based survey for a SARS-CoV-2 test-negative case-control study in California

PONE-D-23-40982R1

Dear Dr. Pry,

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.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Moustaq Karim Khan Rony

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

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. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately 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?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). 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 ONE 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: The authors have addressed my concerns. No further comments.

I endorse the publication of this manuscript.

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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.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

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