Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Prevalence of D ietary Supplement Use and Associated Factors among Female College  
Students in Saudi Arabia  
 
Version: 0 Date: 01 Jul 2017  
 
Reviewer: Ikechukwu Obi  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
The study is relevant to general knowledge on di etary supplement use in Saudi Arabia.  
 
 
The title should however be revised to read: 'Prevalence of dietary supplement use and associated  
factors among female College students in Saudi Arabia.'  
 
 
The presentation of results in tables while repeating some as bar charts needs to be corrected. 
The authors will do well to decide on which results to present as tables and which to present as 
bar charts in order to avoid repetition of data presented.  
 
 
In the Discussion: the entire first paragraph of the discussion s ection repeated results, this 
paragraph should be removed.  
 
 
Some conclusions drawn are not adequately supported by the data shown:  
 
The authors indicated in the discussion that "Therefore, this study also indicates the need for 
improvement among health car e physicians to obtain sufficient knowledge regarding healthy diet 
and nutrition in order to be considered as a reliable source of counseling, information and 
increasing awareness among general population."  Making reference to a study that indicated that 
physicians had poor knowledge of nutrition and dietary supplements.  
 
This study, however does not show any finding that could corroborate this, as in the results it is 
reported that few respondents source their knowledge of dietary supplements from physici ans. 
Such a statement which cannot be supported from the results of this study should be removed 
from the manuscript.  
 
 
The quality of language [written English] in the manuscript needs some language corrections 
before being published.  
 
 
The manuscript can be published following these corrections.  
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 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 manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing inte rests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, 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 compe ting 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 interests.  
 
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