Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Predictors of contraceptive use among adolescen t girls  and young women (AGYW) aged  
15 to 24 years in South Africa: results from the 2012 national population -based household survey  
 
Version: 0 Date: 17 Jan 2019  
 
Reviewer: Kim Jonas  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Thank you for the opportunity to review this interesting paper, I enjoyed reading it. The 
manuscript could not have come at a better time… despite it being timely, I have some 
comments and questions for the authors. My main comment being the conclusion arr ived at of 
improving educational level to increase contraceptive access/use among AGYW in SA, I wonder 
if that is realistic and feasible -there's numerous factors around low levels of education and I will 
not go into that in this paper… my specific comments  and suggestions are below:  
 
 
Abstract:  
 
Page 2:  
 
Line 8 - it should be challenges in -not of ...?  
 
 "With this in mind,"… not really necessary  
 
Line 16 - consider punctuating this sentence...at its current state, it doesnt read well...  
 
General comment, please try and use punctuation, like comma's and semi -colons for better 
reading of your manuscript...whenever you talk about unplanned pregnancy, I think you should 
consider adding "unintended" as well, as these 2 often go hand in hand as in "unplanned and 
unintended  pregnancy". also, i'd replace "unwanted" with "unintended" pregnancy - Check recent 
literature for correct terminology!  
 
Line 38 - perhaps using joining words will help your sentences, otherwise it sounds almost 
repetitive...  
 
Line 41 - what do you mean here, what other race group are you referring to???  
 
Line 50 - i am not sure about this point, as access to contraceptive services should cater for 
everyone regardless of their education status... perhaps you want to say interventions to improve 
access to and use of contraceptives should be tailored to meet the specific needs of this 
group/everyone...?  
 
 
Page 3:  
 
Line 2 - it should be: "this age group", as you've only examined one age group, 15 -24... 
 
 
Background  
 
Page 4:  
 
Line 3 - this sentence is not entirely correct...  injection, implants, birth control pills to name a 
few- do not prevent STDs!!!! please rephrase and use appropriate terminology and uses for 
contraceptives.  
 
Line 27 - not using by choice or...? this sounds like by choice, and thus does not add any value to  
your previous point of unmet need.  
 
Line 35 - i see you are hopping between 1 decimal and no decimal point, be consistent... choose 
one.  
 
Line 60 - you mean attitudes "of" health providers...?  
 
 
Page 5  
 
Line 25 - where is the reference???  
 
Line 30 -32- reference and punctuation check!  
 
Line 43 - you have listed quite a number of factors, so it cannot be "was"....  
 
Line 53 - contraceptive should be in singular  
 
 
Methods  
 
Page 7:  
 
Line 22 - consider revising that sentence - its not making sense...  
 
 
Page 8 
 
Line 16 -29:  General comment: i am noting quite a lot of grammatical errors - consider proof 
reading your next version or get someone else to do it before submitting it!  
 
 
Page 9  
 
Table 1: i am not clear on how this table is presented - i thought the denom inator of contraceptive 
use is 1460, thus the percentage use of contraceptives should be divided by 1460, thus i dont 
understand why %s dont add up to 100% here...? also, does this mean 76.7% of the 15 -19 year 
old reported (from 1460) were using contracept ives- that seems way too much...please double 
check that...i think this should be about 31% if the denominator is 1460... why is there no 
proportion of AGYW using a specific method of contraception??? What % used what method??? 
This is information would be  useful in tailoring intervention to promote contraceptive use, 
specifically for those long acting -reversible contraceptives, depending on the current use.  
 
Table 2: I also don't understand your % under contraceptive use…  
 
 
Page 12  
 
Line 53 -54: check gramma r  
 
 
Page 14  
 
Line 5 - it should read "methods of contraceptives available to them...."  
 
Line 7 -8: i am not sure how this will work out/what you mean here... are you saying that people 
should go back to school and increase their educ level to increase contr use ??? that doesnt sound 
practical! how about increasing the knowledge and awareness of the available contraceptives to 
all AGYW irrespective of their education level... you must also remember that contraception is a 
fundamental human right according to the S A constitution and the policies you referred to in the 
intro are exactly the means to ensure that right is fully exercised by all.. yes, education is an 
important factor -but that should not be the limiting factor to accessing contraceptives. women 
with/out  (higher) education should be provided the necessary information in a way the can 
understand/comprehend to enable them to make an informed choice in the use/nonuse of 
contraceptives  
 
Line 27 -34: I fully agree with this!  
 
 
Page 15  
 
Line 17: check grammar  
 
 
Page  16 
 
Line 11 -14: again, i dont fully agree with this... education was a factor, but i think the education 
needing to be addressed here is general knowledge and awareness of contraceptives - irrespective 
of "educational level"... otherwise hopes to lower unin tended pregnancies can come to fruition in 
the next century.  
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in th e manus cript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1.  Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, f ees, funding, or salary 
from an organisation that may in any way gain or lose financial ly from the 
publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2.  Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat may in any way gain or 
lose financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the 
future?  
 
3.  Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content 
of the manuscript?  
 
4.  Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization 
that holds  or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
5.  Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6.  Do you have any  non-financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have  no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing i nterests.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal. I understan d that my name will be includ ed 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted f or publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on  the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as confidential comments  
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal