Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Barriers to seeking consultation for abnormal uterine bleeding: systematic review of  
qualitative research.  
 
Version: 2 Date: 09 Dec 2019  
 
Reviewer: Cristina Laguna B. Pinto  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
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I reviewed the manuscript "Barriers to seeking consultation for abnormal uterine bleed ing: 
systematic review of qualitative research´. The aim of this review was to synthesize the available 
qualitative evidence explores the experiences lived by women with AUB to identify barriers and 
facilitators to seeking appropriate care.  
 
Although the pr evalence of abnormal uterine bleeding is relatively high, the data on the difficulty 
of medical care are scarce. Thus, the manuscript has potential interest for publication, although 
the authors included only twelve qualitative studies in this review.  
 
The methodology is well described and the authors interestingly included the results. Data were 
grouped into three key themes, with comments made for each of these.  
 
Considering the aim of the manuscript, my main comment is that the introduction should cite 
more emphatically that any bleeding with impairment of any aspect of a woman's quality of life 
should be valued, not just considering the volume of bleeding, as cited in paragraphs 48 -51, page 
3. I suggest that the authors value the woman's complaint. For thi s, there are several references of 
FIGO.  
 
Another point is that some manuscript assessed in this review were published many years ago. In 
my opinion, this aspect needs to be included in the limitation section.  
 
 
 
 
 
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.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequ ately supported 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 recommend ed, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
Not relevant to this manuscript  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
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