Reviewer ’s report  
Title: Prevalenc e and antimicrobial susceptibility of asymptomat ic bacteriuria among women 
with pelvic organ prolapse in Abakaliki, South -East Nigeria.  
 
Version: 1 Date: 20 Jul 2017  
 
Reviewer: Andrey Petrikovets  
 
Reviewer's report:  
Thank you very much for allowing me to review this manuscript.  
 
This is a cross sectional study of patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria in the setting of pelvic 
organ prolapse in Nigeria. Below are my comments:  
 
Background: Please move toward focusing on  asymptomatic bacteriuria and its diagnosis and 
also symptomatic bacteria which does not require a 10^5 colony count for diagnosis. Please 
remove obstetric complication reference as it is not relevant.  Focus on why it is important to 
identify asymptomatic  bacteriuria and its consequences in greater detail. Define recurrent UTIs.  
 
Methods: Please remove the formula, just note the statistical test that was used. The entire 
section should be under the heading Materials and Methods. No subheadings.  
 
Results: Please report data as n(%) instead of a separate column for %. I am not sure why 
husband occupation is included in the data.  
 
Table 3: Busy and too difficult to read. Please organize.  
 
Discussion: Please comment further on limitations of this study, i.e. l ack of a control group, 
selection bias. Please comment on generalizability of the data. Please stay away from making a 
recommendation as the data does not support it. You can only state patterns, not 
recommendations from cross sectional data.  Regardless o f the findings of this study, the urine 
culture will still guide your management. Better to prescribe an antibiotic that has the lowest 
rates of resistance, i.e. microbid and wait for the results of the urine cultures before tailoring 
therapy.  
 
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.  
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 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 wri tten English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
Needs some la nguage 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, fees, funding, or salary fr om 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 o f 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 interests.  
 
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