Mixed effects analysis of factors associated with barriers to accessing healthcare among women in sub-Saharan Africa: insights from demographic and health surveys

PONE-D-20-26681

Dear Dr. Abdul-Aziz Seidu,

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: No

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: This is a brief but useful paper that reports high quality data from representative surveys of women in 24 sub-Saharan nations that were conducted between 2010-2018. A useful literature review is presented. All data collection was covered by ethical review. Analyses of the merged, 24-nation data set appear to have been conducted appropriately, with adjustments introduced for data weights and clustering. Findings make good sense and provide valuable important documentation regarding healthcare access on the continent. Limitations are also acknowledged. I find little to criticize or recommend in the way of improvement, although it is unfortunate that the data set is not freely available to other researchers.

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Reviewer #1: No