Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: A comparison of intimate partner and other sexual assault  survivors' use of different types 
of specialized hospital -based violence services  
 
Version: 0 Date: 25 May 2016  
 
Reviewer: Jennifer Tabler  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Mismatch between title and abstract on first page. Not sure if the author (s) copied and pasted the 
wrong abstract, or BMC provided the wrong abstract.  Abstract in the body appears to be correct.  
 
 
Importance: This research fills an important gap in the literature by examining the differences in 
health services utilization by ty pes of sexual violence.  
 
 
 
 
Minor Issues:  
 
Line 38 there is an extra space  
 
Line 48 there is a missing parentheses  
 
The sentence between Lines 51 -58 is awkward/run -on as written.  
 
 
 
 
Major considerations:  
 
THEORY: This paper lacks a grounding theoretical framework. Although the others present 
prevailing public "myths" about IPV (and these are very important to address), a nod to a broader 
theoretical framework (health belief model, gender or feminist theory) would greatly enhance the 
generalizability of this work.  
 
 
METHOD: A major limitation would be analytic robustness. Additional statistical analyses are 
recommended. Cross -tabulation and chi -squared tests are useful for descriptive statistics. 
However, as presented, these results are not adjusted for potential conf ounding factors. Did the 
authors attempt to use regression techniques (such as logistic regression) to assess outcomes 
while controlling for covariates? The authors have access to a basic set of controls (marital 
status, age, employment, social support etc ).  Given that the sample size is around 500 -600 
(depending on variables used), the authors should use regression techniques to assess the 
probability or likelihood of receiving forms of treatment based on assailant type (i.e., dependent 
variables in Table  4) while controlling for available covariates. This would enhance the quality 
of this study.  
 
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments t o the authors.  
 
No 
 
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 the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review ? 
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify 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 manus cript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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, fees, fu nding, or salary from an  
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this  
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that 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 al l 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 interests  
  
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