Review er’s report  
 
Title: Correlates of sexual inactivity and met need for contraceptives among young women in  
Ghana  
 
Version: 1 Date: 06 Apr 2018  
 
Reviewer: Theresa Hoke  
 
Reviewer's report:  
The authors have addressed the reviewers' comments very well for the most pa rt.  The following 
issues still deserve attention:  
 
The authors responded:  
"This variable had classified 254 women as amenorrheic as they stated their period had  
not returned since giving birth. This is a limitation to our study in that we do not have  
enough information to calculate the period of amenorrhea to appropriately classify the  
women as amenorrheic or not. This is a limitation of the study that we have stated in  
the 'Study Limitations' sub -section of the Methods section.  
 
Stating this in the Limitations does not seem sufficient. The DHS provides data on time since most 
recent birth. The analysis would be strengthened if it was re -run to include the amenorrheic women 
who are > 6 months postpartum, using DHS data to classify women according to time since last 
birth.  At a minimum, revise the text saying amenorrheic women were not exposed to the risk of 
pregnancy at the time of the survey, since that is not accurate for any women > 6 months 
postpartum.   
 
Concerning this text:  
Sexual activity is  
133 considered in the measure of unmet need. In their analysis of trends in contraception and  
134 sexual activity in Ghana, Machiyama and Cleland [13] find reduction in coital frequency as  
135 an alternative to contraceptives, as women who desired to space or limit births were more  
136 than twice as likely as other women to have had sex in the past four weeks [13].  
 
Did you really mean to write: "...were more than twice as likely as other women to have had sex 
in the past four weeks" ?  
Machiyama and Cleland wrote: "those who wanted to delay for two years or more or wanted no 
more were two times as likely to report abstinence."  
 
 
Concerning this text:  
Among married women, however, the difference in number of living children only exists for  
353 uniparous women compared with multiparous women but not between the latter and  
354 nulliparous women.  
 
Is this meant to say, "Among married women, however, the difference in contraceptive status 
according to number of living children only exists for…. " 
 
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 supporte d by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
Yes 
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 spe cify 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:  
Acceptable  
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