Hospital Proximity and Mortality in Australia
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
I found this paper very interesting and well-worth publishing although the conclusion—that mortality is affected by the proximity of medical care—seems obvious. The middle sections of the paper, which are long statistical modeling tutorials, can be severely condensed or omitted. (p. 6-12).
I wish the authors had provided references in the text, so I could evaluate their appropriateness, rather than (?). This also applies to references to sections on p. 8, 10.
I have no argument with the idea that proximity can substitute for income and geography; I would argue, however, that the mortality of Australian aboriginals probably also includes causes related to the structural racism that is part of Australian society.
How were percent rurality and average hospital distance computed?
p. 1 “that proximity effects an increase”
Are these contradictory? p. 6: “Northern Territory and Kimberley SDs. These may coincide with the areas of highest indigenous population.” vs. p. 14 “The greatest population is in ….While 80% and 40% live in remote regions….90% of the total population lives in urbanized areas.”
In graphical representation of the models, the lines representing different models are impossible to tell apart.
Author Response
I found this paper very interesting and well-worth publishing although the conclusion—that mortality is affected by the proximity of medical care—seems obvious. The middle sections of the paper, which are long statistical modeling tutorials, can be severely condensed or omitted. (p. 6-12).
The various models lead credibility to the final one (the negative binomial), so I am inclined to keep them in the face of criticism.
I wish the authors had provided references in the text, so I could evaluate their appropriateness, rather than (?). This also applies to references to sections on p. 8, 10.
Fixed
I have no argument with the idea that proximity can substitute for income and geography; I would argue, however, that the mortality of Australian aboriginals probably also includes causes related to the structural racism that is part of Australian society.
How were percent rurality and average hospital distance computed?
Fixed, refer to Appendix A.
p. 1 “that proximity effects an increase”
Fixed
Are these contradictory? p. 6: “Northern Territory and Kimberley SDs. These may coincide with the areas of highest indigenous population.” vs. p. 14 “The greatest population is in ….While 80% and 40% live in remote regions….90% of the total population lives in urbanized areas.”
Fixed
In graphical representation of the models, the lines representing different models are impossible to tell apart.
The graphs mainly show qx, whereas the alphas have a small but significant effect. The appendices illustrate this.
Reviewer 2 Report
Referee’s Report on
“Hospital Proximity and Mortality in Australia”
Summary
In this paper, the authors examine the empirical evidence for the assertion that that proximity to hospitals can improve the chances of survival from a range of medical conditions, based on Australian data.
General comments
The paper can be further improved.
Improvements that you could suggest on the paper
The article should be checked with respect to the used language.
A “?” appears instead of the references within the text.
The last sentence (with the asterisk) on page 4, should be incorporated in the last paragraph.
The “,” on line 2, page 6, should be replaced with a “.”.
The notation r is used for denoting both region (page 4) and the constant appearing into σ2 under the negative binomial approach (page 6).
The full stop should be removed from the end of the headline of Section 3.
There is no reference to the figures in the text.
Figures 3 and 4 have the same caption.
There are two full stops at the end of the sentence seven lines from below (page 13).
Please write “Infant mortality is also significant” instead of “Infant mortality are also significant” (page 13, four lines from below).
The table on page 14 has no number.
Please write “deprivation” instead of “deprivtaion” (page 14, last sentence of Section 3).
Please write “appropriate” instead of “appropriare” (page 15, two lines from below).
The “.” at the middle of page 18, should be replaced with a “,”.
My overall opinion is that the paper may be published after corrections have been made.
Author Response
All issues below are addressed
The article should be checked with respect to the used language.
A “?” appears instead of the references within the text.
The last sentence (with the asterisk) on page 4, should be incorporated in the last paragraph.
The “,” on line 2, page 6, should be replaced with a “.”.
The notation r is used for denoting both region (page 4) and the constant appearing into σ2 under the negative binomial approach (page 6).
The full stop should be removed from the end of the headline of Section 3.
There is no reference to the figures in the text.
Figures 3 and 4 have the same caption.
There are two full stops at the end of the sentence seven lines from below (page 13).
Please write “Infant mortality is also significant” instead of “Infant mortality are also significant” (page 13, four lines from below).
The table on page 14 has no number.
Please write “deprivation” instead of “deprivtaion” (page 14, last sentence of Section 3).
Please write “appropriate” instead of “appropriare” (page 15, two lines from below).
The “.” at the middle of page 18, should be replaced with a “,”.
My overall opinion is that the paper may be published after corrections have been made.
