Dear Dr. Guadie,

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.

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Frederick Quinn

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

[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?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: The authors should work on describing the methodological procedures in more detail for the sake of reproducibility of this study. By clearly mentioning the inclusion criteria, sampling methods, how missing data were handled, and how potential biases were addressed.

Please provide justifications for analytical approaches. Please provide tools for analysis of predictors of mortality.

The findings listed in this research article mainly reiterate the known risk and known associations, and lacks in providing actionable new insights.

Discussion should be improved by addressing the global scenarios beyond Africa, including other countries like China, India.

Addressing why HIV positivity, BMI are not a significant associations.

Reviewer #2: Summary:

The manuscript investigated the outcome of tuberculosis treatment and associated factors in multicenter facilities. The research being done in multicenter make the results more representative of broader population. The study is clearly presented and the methodology meets the PlOS One guidelines. The manuscript is technically sound, and the data supports the conclusions.

Overall impression: the study addresses an interesting research question. Having said these, few minor issues must be addressed before publication.

1. In the title of the study:

• “cross-sectional study” must be included in the title

2. In the abstract:

• In the abstract part (line 31 to 33) and the on results (line 226 and 227); based on your results and table 3, educational status was not statistically significant. And the variables which are associated with successful treatment outcome should be written as “being unmarried” and “extra-pulmonary TB” instead of marital status and type of TB.

3. In the introduction part:

• Write the reference of line 52 to 54.

4. In the methodology part:

• Language and grammar, line 128 to 130 is not written as a sentence, please rewrite it.

5. In results and discussion part:

I. Line 224, the subtitle should be written as “factors associated with successful tuberculosis treatment outcome” since the study is assessing the associated factors of successful treatment outcome instead of factors associated with tuberculosis treatment outcome.

II. Line 226 and 227; education is not significant from your table (table 3). The texts “marital status” and “type of TB” should be written as being unmarried, and having extra-pulmonary TB as they are the ones which was associated with successful treatment outcome. In addition, use past tense when you talk about your results.

III. Being never married will be difficult to find from medical records it would be better if it is written as unmarried during the time of treatment.

IV. On discussion part; when you discuss researches done in Ethiopia please mention Ethiopia in addition to the name of the place so that the international readers will know it is Ethiopia.

V. On discussion part on line 271 to 274 you wrote “married individuals in Arba Minch area share

multiple competing sociocultural obligations, such as workloads to maintain family incomes and family responsibilities that could detract them from their health management efforts, unlike never-married individuals who may prioritize their health more effectively”. How do you reach to that conclusion?

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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: Yes:  Liwam Kidane Gezahegn

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[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

Magnitude of tuberculosis treatment outcomes and associated factors in public health institutions of Arba Minch town, Southern Ethiopia: A multi-centered retrospective cross-sectional study

PONE-D-25-35010R1

Dear Dr. Guadie,

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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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,

Frederick Quinn

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Expand WHO in introduction line 46

Add reference for line 45-46

remove tuberculosis in line 120 (Study design section)

In clinical and behavioral related characteristics please adopt a uniform format of answering: mention Smear Test positive individuals in (); Same in TB treatment outcomes unsuccessful treatments

it would be better to expand on HIV and TB relations (up to authors)

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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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: Yes:  Liwam Kidane Gezahegn

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