Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Correlates of sexual inactivity and met need for contraceptives among young women in  
Ghana  
 
Version: 0 Date: 12 Mar 2018  
 
Reviewer: Theresa Hoke  
 
Reviewer's report:  
The authors  are to be commended for examining DHS data with a fresh perspective.  They are 
encouraged to consider the following points as they revise the manuscript.  
 
Background  
 
Line 82: Provide a different reference for the statement that most young adult pregnanci es globally 
are unintended. The reference provided pertains to fertility trends in the USA.  
 
Methods  
 
Line 125. Amenorrheic women more than 6 months postpartum can be at risk of pregnancy. Only 
women who are exclusively breastfeeding and less than 6 months  postpartum are considered to be 
protected from pregnancy.  Other amenorrheic postpartum women can be included in the sample.  
 
Line 141: "Sexually inactive" is defined here as being abstinent for 2 or more months, but on Lines 
167 and 172 sexual inactivity  is equated with abstinence for 1 month or more.  
 
Line 171: The definition of abstinence here refers to a person having sexual experience.  Provide 
one clear definition of abstinence, preferably with a reference showing the definition is consistent 
with pr ior research in the scholarly literature looking at similar issues.  
 
Results  
 
Line 200: Table 1 shows 18.4% of married women are abstinent.  That percentage seems high for 
women in union. Is that a surprising figure for Ghana?  Provide more cultural contex t to explain 
the phenomenon of women being in union yet abstinent. Is this abstinence really an approach 
married women can rely on to prevent pregnancy over time?  
 
Discussion  
 
Line 281: Provide reference for the comment that young Muslim women are less lik ely to be 
abstinent than young Catholic women.  
 
Line 302: Provide reference for the statement that nulliparous women are not expected to think 
about modern contraception favourably and tend to use traditional or natural methods. (Note there 
are "natural" forms of modern contraception like lactational am enorrhea and Cycle Beads.)  
 
Line 316: Provide a reference to support the comment that women who have had induced abortions 
may be comfortable using pregnancy termination as a form of contraception.  
 
Conclusions  
 
Line 324: Start the paragraph with "young wo men" as opposed to "young girls."  
 
Line 339: Provide references for the other studies referenced here.  
 
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 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.  
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 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  
Decla ration of competing interests  
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