Peer Review History

Original SubmissionDecember 30, 2023
Decision Letter - Mohammad Hossein Ebrahimi, Editor

PONE-D-23-43503Sleep duration and hypertension incidence: Systematic review and meta-analysisPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Soleimani,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’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 Apr 19 2024 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 plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

  • A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
  • A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
  • An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Mohammad Hossein Ebrahimi

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal requirements:

1. When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements.

Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. The PLOS ONE style templates can be found at 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=wjVg/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_main_body.pdf and 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=ba62/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_title_authors_affiliations.pdf.

2. PLOS requires an ORCID iD for the corresponding author in Editorial Manager on papers submitted after December 6th, 2016. Please ensure that you have an ORCID iD and that it is validated in Editorial Manager. To do this, go to ‘Update my Information’ (in the upper left-hand corner of the main menu), and click on the Fetch/Validate link next to the ORCID field. This will take you to the ORCID site and allow you to create a new iD or authenticate a pre-existing iD in Editorial Manager. Please see the following video for instructions on linking an ORCID iD to your Editorial Manager account: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xcclfuvtxQ".

3. We noted in your submission details that a portion of your manuscript may have been presented or published elsewhere. [The article's abstract has been submitted to the "American College of Cardiology 2024" conference; however, we are still awaiting notification regarding its acceptance. It was a conference will not constitute dual publication.] Please clarify whether this conference proceeding was peer-reviewed and formally published. If this work was previously peer-reviewed and published, in the cover letter please provide the reason that this work does not constitute dual publication and should be included in the current manuscript.

4. We note that you have indicated that there are restrictions to data sharing for this study. PLOS only allows data to be available upon request if there are legal or ethical restrictions on sharing data publicly. For more information on unacceptable data access restrictions, please see http://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/data-availability#loc-unacceptable-data-access-restrictions. 

Before we proceed with your manuscript, please address the following prompts:

a) If there are ethical or legal restrictions on sharing a de-identified data set, please explain them in detail (e.g., data contain potentially identifying or sensitive patient information, data are owned by a third-party organization, etc.) and who has imposed them (e.g., a Research Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board, etc.). Please also provide contact information for a data access committee, ethics committee, or other institutional body to which data requests may be sent.

b) If there are no restrictions, please upload the minimal anonymized data set necessary to replicate your study findings to a stable, public repository and provide us with the relevant URLs, DOIs, or accession numbers. For a list of recommended repositories, please see

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/recommended-repositories. You also have the option of uploading the data as Supporting Information files, but we would recommend depositing data directly to a data repository if possible.

We will update your Data Availability statement on your behalf to reflect the information you provide.

5. In the online submission form, you indicated that [The data underlying the results presented in the study are available on request from the author and were gathered from the published studies included in our meta-analysis.]. 

All PLOS journals now require all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript to be freely available to other researchers, either 1. In a public repository, 2. Within the manuscript itself, or 3. Uploaded as supplementary information.

This policy applies to all data except where public deposition would breach compliance with the protocol approved by your research ethics board. If your data cannot be made publicly available for ethical or legal reasons (e.g., public availability would compromise patient privacy), please explain your reasons on resubmission and your exemption request will be escalated for approval. 

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

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: Partly

Reviewer #2: Partly

**********

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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: 1. Title: The title should be more specific and concise, indicating the focus of the study. For example, "Association Between Sleep Duration and Hypertension Incidence: A Meta-Analysis."

2. Abstract:

• Method: Specify the statistical methods used for pooling hazard ratios and risk ratios (e.g., DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model).

• Results: Line 43 "Ranging from 2.4 to 18 years" might be better as "ranging from 2.4 to 18 years of follow-up duration."

• Conclusion: The conclusion should summarize the main findings of the study and their implications for clinical practice or further research.

3. Introduction:

• When discussing the association between sleep duration and HTN, it would be helpful to briefly mention some of the conflicting findings in the existing literature to highlight the need for the current study.

• The objectives of the study are clearly stated, but it might be beneficial to explicitly mention the primary aim of the meta-analysis (e.g., to quantify the association between sleep duration and HTN incidence) before discussing stratification by age and sex.

• Consider including a brief transition at the end of the introduction to smoothly lead into the methods section, such as mentioning the need for a systematic review and meta-analysis to address the existing uncertainties.

• Line 56-57: Consider rephrasing "With a worldwide prevalence estimated at 34% in men and 32% in women" to specify that these estimates pertain to the prevalence of hypertension.

4. Methods:

• Registration of Protocol: Specify whether the protocol was registered before the initiation of the study. Also, mention the publication date of the protocol if applicable.

• Clarify the rationale behind excluding studies with a sample size of less than 30 people.

• Line 127-129: Please provide references for the definitions of sleep duration utilized in the study.

• When discussing outcomes, providing examples of covariates used for adjustment could enhance understanding. Additionally, specify how missing data were handled during outcome extraction.

5. Discussion:

• Line 226-227: The statement "To our knowledge, this meta-analysis has been the most comprehensive study that exploring the relationship between sleep duration and HTN incidence" could be revised for clarity. For instance, you could say, "This meta-analysis represents a comprehensive investigation into the relationship between sleep duration and HTN incidence, encompassing various definitions of short and long sleep durations, as well as follow-up durations.

• While the discussion references previous meta-analyses and systematic reviews on the topic, it could be strengthened by providing a more detailed comparison of the current findings with those of previous studies. This would help contextualize the significance of the current study and highlight any novel contributions.

• When discussing the association between short sleep duration and HTN incidence, consider elaborating on the potential clinical implications of these findings. For example, you could discuss the importance of early detection and intervention for individuals with short sleep duration to reduce their risk of developing HTN.

• The limitations of the study are appropriately acknowledged in the discussion. To strengthen this section, consider providing a more detailed discussion of how these limitations may have influenced the results and interpretations. Additionally, discuss potential strategies to address these limitations in future research.

• The conclusion effectively summarizes the key findings of the study and emphasizes the implications for clinical practice and future research. To enhance the conclusion, consider reinforcing the main implications of the findings and providing recommendations for future research directions or public health interventions.

Reviewer #2: Hosseini et al. performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the relationship between sleep duration and the risk of incident HTN. I have several minor and major comments for revision:

ABSTRACT

* Please highlight the comparison group in your methods.

* Try to use "risk" before using "incidence" of HTN throughout the manuscript.

* Use pooled "RR" instead of pooled "HR" throughout the manuscript, as you are combining different types of association measures.

INTRODUCTION

* Please state the clinical impressions of your study in the last paragraph of the Introduction. What problems remain unanswered? What are questions responding to?

METHODS

* Please check for consistency with the PRISMA guideline!

* Explain your methods in more detail! How many reviewers contributed to different processes? You should also cite references regarding heterogeneity, Egger's test, etc.

* The NOS assessed quality or risk of bias? These are different!

RESULTS

* Table 1 is not observed completely!

**********

6. 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: Yes: Faizul Akmal bin Abdul Rahim

Reviewer #2: No

**********

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

Revision 1

Reviewers' comments

Reviewer #1:

1. Title:

The title should be more specific and concise, indicating the focus of the study. For example, "Association Between Sleep Duration and Hypertension Incidence: A Meta-Analysis."

Answer: Thank you so much for your valuable comment. We approved the title

2. Abstract:

• Method: Specify the statistical methods used for pooling hazard ratios and risk ratios (e.g., DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model).

Answer: Thank you so much for your true comment. The text has been changed: line 41-42

• Results: Line 43 "Ranging from 2.4 to 18 years" might be better as "ranging from 2.4 to 18 years of follow-up duration."

Answer: Thank you so much for your insightful comment. The text has been changed: line 43

• Conclusion: The conclusion should summarize the main findings of the study and their implications for clinical practice or further research.

Answer: Your comment has been invaluable. The text has been changed: line 50-53

3. Introduction:

• When discussing the association between sleep duration and HTN, it would be helpful to briefly mention some of the conflicting findings in the existing literature to highlight the need for the current study.

Answer: Thank you so much for your valuable comment. The text has been changed: line 71-78

• The objectives of the study are clearly stated, but it might be beneficial to explicitly mention the primary aim of the meta-analysis (e.g., to quantify the association between sleep duration and HTN incidence) before discussing stratification by age and sex.

Answer: Thank you for sharing your expertise. The text has been changed: line 81

• Consider including a brief transition at the end of the introduction to smoothly lead into the methods section, such as mentioning the need for a systematic review and meta-analysis to address the existing uncertainties.

Answer: Thank you so much for your insightful comment. The text has been changed: line 71-78

• Line 56-57: Consider rephrasing "With a worldwide prevalence estimated at 34% in men and 32% in women" to specify that these estimates pertain to the prevalence of hypertension.

Answer: Thank you so much for your true comment. The text has been changed: line 59-60

4. Methods:

• Registration of Protocol: Specify whether the protocol was registered before the initiation of the study. Also, mention the publication date of the protocol if applicable.

Answer: Thank you so much for your true comment. The text has been changed: line 88

• Clarify the rationale behind excluding studies with a sample size of less than 30 people.

Answer: Thank you so much for your comment. The text has been changed: line 96

• Line 127-129: Please provide references for the definitions of sleep duration utilized in the study.

Answer: Thank you so much for your valuable comment. The text has been changed: line 140-141

• When discussing outcomes, providing examples of covariates used for adjustment could enhance understanding. Additionally, specify how missing data were handled during outcome extraction.

Answer: Thank you so much for your true comment. The text has been changed: line 143 and 162-165

5. Discussion:

• Line 226-227: The statement "To our knowledge, this meta-analysis has been the most comprehensive study that exploring the relationship between sleep duration and HTN incidence" could be revised for clarity. For instance, you could say, "This meta-analysis represents a comprehensive investigation into the relationship between sleep duration and HTN incidence, encompassing various definitions of short and long sleep durations, as well as follow-up durations.

Answer: Thank you so much for the guidance. The text has been changed: line 243-245

• While the discussion references previous meta-analyses and systematic reviews on the topic, it could be strengthened by providing a more detailed comparison of the current findings with those of previous studies. This would help contextualize the significance of the current study and highlight any novel contributions.

Answer: Thank you so much for your constructive comment. The text has been changed: line 248-258

• When discussing the association between short sleep duration and HTN incidence, consider elaborating on the potential clinical implications of these findings. For example, you could discuss the importance of early detection and intervention for individuals with short sleep duration to reduce their risk of developing HTN.

Answer: Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. The text has been changed: line 299-303

• The limitations of the study are appropriately acknowledged in the discussion. To strengthen this section, consider providing a more detailed discussion of how these limitations may have influenced the results and interpretations. Additionally, discuss potential strategies to address these limitations in future research.

Answer: Thank you for your guidance. The text has been changed: line 319-326

• The conclusion effectively summarizes the key findings of the study and emphasizes the implications for clinical practice and future research. To enhance the conclusion, consider reinforcing the main implications of the findings and providing recommendations for future research directions or public health interventions.

Answer: Thank you so much for your true comment. The text has been changed: line 330-332

Reviewer #2:

1. Abstract:

* Please highlight the comparison group in your methods.

Answer: Thank you so much for your valuable comment. The text has been changed: line 40

* Try to use "risk" before using "incidence" of HTN throughout the manuscript.

Answer: Thank you so much for your true comment. The text has been changed.

* Use pooled "RR" instead of pooled "HR" throughout the manuscript, as you are combining different types of association measures.

Answer: All of the included studies in this article used HR as their effect size for assessment, except the study conducted by Haung et al. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8517638/ ). Consequently, we kept HR due to its ability to consider both the incidence and the timing beside mitigating the potential confounders, therefore providing stronger support for causal relationship between different sleep durations and HTN incidence.

2. Introduction:

* Please state the clinical impressions of your study in the last paragraph of the Introduction. What problems remain unanswered? What are questions responding to?

Answer: Thank you so much for your valuable comment. The text has been changed: line 71-78

3. Methods:

* Please check for consistency with the PRISMA guideline!

Answer: Thank you so much for your insightful comment. We rechecked the consistency of the article with PRISMA guidelines and presented the results in S1 table.

* Explain your methods in more detail! How many reviewers contributed to different processes? You should also cite references regarding heterogeneity, Egger's test, etc.

Answer: Thank you so much for your guidance. The method section has been enhanced.

* The NOS assessed quality or risk of bias? These are different!

Answer: Thank you for your true comment. The text has been changed: line 116-117

4. Results:

* Table 1 is not observed completely!

Answer: Thank you for your true comment. The Table 1 has been corrected.

Attachments
Attachment
Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.docx
Decision Letter - Mohammad Hossein Ebrahimi, Editor

Association between sleep duration and hypertension incidence: Systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

PONE-D-23-43503R1

Dear Dr. Soleimani,

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.

An invoice will be generated when your article is formally accepted. Please note, if your institution has a publishing partnership with PLOS and your article meets the relevant criteria, all or part of your publication costs will be covered. Please make sure your user information is up-to-date by logging into Editorial Manager at Editorial Manager® and clicking the ‘Update My Information' link at the top of the page. If you have any questions relating to publication charges, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org.

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 onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Mohammad Hossein Ebrahimi

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 #2: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #4: All comments have been addressed

**********

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 #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: Yes

**********

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

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: 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 #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: Yes

**********

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 #2: (No Response)

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: Yes

**********

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 #2: Thanks for your revisions. All comments have been addressed. Your revised manuscript is acceptable now.

Reviewer #3: The manuscript is rather interesting and novel. Well presented and statistical analysis was adequate.

The association between sleep duration and hypertension is clinically significant and short duration of sleep was associated

As expected with increased incidence of htn. The results should be published.

Reviewer #4: Manuscript has been published in JACC already: SLEEP DURATION AND HYPERTENSION INCIDENCE: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

OPEN ACCESS

Prevention And Health Promotion

Aayushi Sood, Kaveh Hosseini, Hamidreza Soleimani, Kiarash Tavakoli, Narges Heydari, Yasmim Fravash, Mani Khorsand Askari, Akshit Sood, Kimia Najafi, Rahul Gupta, Kazem Rahimi, and Diaa A. Hakim

J Am Coll Cardio. 2024 Apr, 83 (13_Supplement) 1877

**********

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 #2: No

Reviewer #3: Yes: Dimitrios Afendoulis

Reviewer #4: No

**********

Formally Accepted
Acceptance Letter - Mohammad Hossein Ebrahimi, Editor

PONE-D-23-43503R1

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Soleimani,

I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now being handed over to our production team.

At this stage, our production department will prepare your paper for publication. This includes ensuring the following:

* All references, tables, and figures are properly cited

* All relevant supporting information is included in the manuscript submission,

* There are no issues that prevent the paper from being properly typeset

If revisions are needed, the production department will contact you directly to resolve them. If no revisions are needed, you will receive an email when the publication date has been set. At this time, we do not offer pre-publication proofs to authors during production of the accepted work. Please keep in mind that we are working through a large volume of accepted articles, so please give us a few weeks to review your paper and let you know the next and final steps.

Lastly, if your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

If we can help with anything else, please email us at customercare@plos.org.

Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access.

Kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Dr. Mohammad Hossein Ebrahimi

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Open letter on the publication of peer review reports

PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process. Therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. Reviewers remain anonymous, unless they choose to reveal their names.

We encourage other journals to join us in this initiative. We hope that our action inspires the community, including researchers, research funders, and research institutions, to recognize the benefits of published peer review reports for all parts of the research system.

Learn more at ASAPbio .