Peer Review History
| Original SubmissionJuly 2, 2024 |
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PONE-D-24-22852Obstetric admission in the intensive care unit in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysisPLOS ONE Dear Dr. Abie, 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 Nov 02 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:
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As required by our policy on Data Availability, please ensure your manuscript or supplementary information includes the following: A numbered table of all studies identified in the literature search, including those that were excluded from the analyses. For every excluded study, the table should list the reason(s) for exclusion. If any of the included studies are unpublished, include a link (URL) to the primary source or detailed information about how the content can be accessed. A table of all data extracted from the primary research sources for the systematic review and/or meta-analysis. The table must include the following information for each study: Name of data extractors and date of data extraction Confirmation that the study was eligible to be included in the review. All data extracted from each study for the reported systematic review and/or meta-analysis that would be needed to replicate your analyses. If data or supporting information were obtained from another source (e.g. correspondence with the author of the original research article), please provide the source of data and dates on which the data/information were obtained by your research group. If applicable for your analysis, a table showing the completed risk of bias and quality/certainty assessments for each study or outcome. Please ensure this is provided for each domain or parameter assessed. For example, if you used the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials, provide answers to each of the signalling questions for each study. If you used GRADE to assess certainty of evidence, provide judgements about each of the quality of evidence factor. This should be provided for each outcome. An explanation of how missing data were handled. This information can be included in the main text, supplementary information, or relevant data repository. Please note that providing these underlying data is a requirement for publication in this journal, and if these data are not provided your manuscript might be rejected. Additional Editor Comments: The given comment from Editor Manuscript ID: PONE-D-24-22852 General Comments Thank you Authors for giving the chance for reviewing and handling such interesting manuscript with highly evidenced model of analysis i.e systematic review and meta-analysis. The manuscript needs to incorporate “the outcomes of obstetric admission in Intensive care unit in Africa in addition to the proportion.” Abstract: � The background is not well written. � Knowing the only prevalence of obstetric admission is not important but if you add the quality of intervention with admission is help for the women. � The method does not included the following points; quality assessment tool and analysis techniques and reviewing protocol were not explained. � The abstract lack some of the summary of the study. Introduction The research gaps of the interested topic is not well explained. Why you are interested to study the proportion of obstetric admission? Methods � You explained articles were retrieved from different databases. But, there is briefly stated key words, Medical subject headings (MeSH Terms) and Boolean connectors for each specific databases. � What is you possible Justification for reviewing date from 2009 to 2023? � The details of quality assessment findings were not cited in the manuscript in “Data extraction and quality assessment”. Result The total numbers of retrieved articles from each databases were not explained. Based on the leave – one –out sensitivity analysis which study affects the pooled estimate of the study? Discussion Line 185 – 186, the explained justification is not clear and convenient Implication of the study What is the implication of your study? Please use PRISMA 20 Flow diagram. [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: No 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: No 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: Abstract • Line number 1-2: Obstetric admission in the intensive care unit in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis � This topic must be included factors and outcomes of ICU admissions � "Rather than knowing the proportion of obstetric admissions to the ICU, understanding how many mothers survive obstetric complications after being admitted to the ICU is more important for measuring the quality of care. Therefore, you should assess the survival rate among mothers admitted to the ICU." • Line number 30-32: How can obstetric admissions to the intensive care unit indicates increase of morbidity and mortality? Is an ICU admission measure the quality of care? Please add or showed ICU management decreases maternal morbidity and mortality • Line number 41: paraphrase the paragraph again as -----a total of 10,190 mothers admitted to intensive care unit • Line number46-48: Is there any gap regarding to staff quality and shortages as well as equipment? Your recommendation will be based on your finding • Line 51: keywords: "One term is a subset of others, such as obstetric and pregnancy complications, as well as critical illness and severe maternal morbidity. Therefore, it's important to avoid redundant use of terms with similar meanings." Introduction • Line 56-60: For this paragraph add reference • Line 60-62: In developing nations, 7% of intensive care unit admissions are accounted for by critically ill obstetric patients; in developed nations, this percentage is lower. Who much the admission rate is lower in developed nations? Where? add figures her ? Inclusion criteria • Line number 100: Why were unpublished studies considered for review? • Line 102: why starting from 2009? In Table 1 articles were started from 2019? • Line 112-113: Each included article's quality was then categorized as high 113 (80% or higher), moderate (65%–80%), or low (less than 65%). At what value articles included in the analysis? Result • Add obstetric Outcomes after ICU admission and Associated Factors for admission. Knowing admission rate to ICU without knowing management outcome is meaning less Subgroup analysis • Line 160: What was your criterion to do group analysis based on the region? . I would like to recommend you to do sub group analysis for the countries, study setting, and study design if possible. • Line 178: Table 4: other non-obstetric causes: what are they others? Add in bracket Discussion • Line 180-181: currently availability and accessibility of ICU increases maternal admission rate of ICU. This is known but what is unknown is how many mothers survive from obstetric complications after admitted at ICU ? • Line 188-190: Did not allow compared the pooled results with the single primary study result? please compere to the national finding or DHS or other systematic review findings Conclusion • Line 217-219: is there any gap regarding to health education? Your recommendation is based on your finding. • Please include the strength and limitation of the study Reviewer #2: I would be happy if it incorporate the prognosis of the admitted patients. As i mentioned from your recommendation your way of abstract writting is somewhat poor and introduction part also as w ell. The discussion also poorly discused. ********** 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: No 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.
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| Revision 1 |
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Obstetric admission and maternal mortality in the intensive care unit in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis PONE-D-24-22852R1 Dear Dr. Abie, 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, Worku Necho Asferie, MSc 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 ********** 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: Partly ********** 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 ********** 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: No ********** 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: Review manuscript PONE-D-24-22852R1, entitled "Obstetric admission and maternal mortality in the intensive care unit in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis Key Comments & Suggested Revisions 1. Abstract � Strengths: • Clearly presents the study’s objectives, methodology, and key findings. • The statistical results are well-articulated. Suggestions: • Improve grammar and readability. • Summarize key qualitative findings. • Provide clearer interpretation of statistical results. 2. Introduction Suggestions: • Add country-specific maternal mortality and ICU admission rates. • Explicitly state the research gap and justification. • Strengthen policy implications. 3. Methods Suggestions: • Justify the mixed-methods approach. • Provide more details on qualitative data analysis. • Explain statistical assumptions and ethical considerations. 4. Results Suggestions: • Integrate qualitative and quantitative findings for a more coherent discussion. • Report all confidence intervals and p-values consistently. • Interpret effect sizes meaningfully. 5. Discussion Suggestions: • Improve integration of qualitative and quantitative findings. • Expand the limitations section. • Strengthen the discussion on policy implications. 6. Conclusion Suggestions: • Strengthen policy connections. • Acknowledge study limitations in the conclusion. 7. Language & Formatting Issues Suggestions: • Professional proofreading & language editing is strongly recommended. • Improve paragraph structure for better readability. Key Actions Before Resubmission: 1. Improve language clarity & proofread thoroughly. 2. Strengthen integration of qualitative and quantitative findings. 3. Clarify statistical methodology and reporting. 4. Expand ethical considerations, limitations, and policy implications. 5. Improve the depth and coherence of the discussion section. ********** 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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| Formally Accepted |
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PONE-D-24-22852R1 PLOS ONE Dear Dr. Abie, 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 Assistant Professor Worku Necho Asferie Academic Editor PLOS ONE |
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