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Response to Gøtzsche (2008)
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International Journal of Nursing Studies 45 (2008) 1399 www.elsevier.com/ijns
Response to Gøtzsche (2008) Jungsoon Moon College of Nursing, Catholic University of Korea, 505 Banpo-dong Secho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Republic of Korea
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to Dr. Gøtzsche’s commentary (Gøtzsche, 2008) on our paper and we apologize for any inconvenience. Dr. Gøtzsche raises some problems with our paper in his commentary. We respond to these below.
1. Duplication issue We do not think our study (Lee et al., 2006) is a duplication of Lee’s (2003) study. Lee examined Der fI and Der pI of HDM allergen I in 42 patients with asthma, while we examined allergen I & II in 71 patients with respiratory allergy. As we mentioned in the introduction, the previous study (Hong and Lee, 1992) revealed that allergen II is a more important factor in causing allergy than allergen I in Korean patients. Thus outcome variables differ. We referred to Lee’s (2003) study in our original (prerevised) manuscript, but it was deleted in the revised manuscript in effort to reduce the volume. It was our mistake not to mention the difference between Lee’s study and ours in the introduction.
2. Sample size justification With regard to his reference to the effect size, Dr. Gøtzsche’s commentary is correct. We were astonished to discover the mistake that we had made
and realized why Dr. Gøtzsche gave us such comments. We have nothing to say with this unbelievable mistake. We acknowledge our mistakes during the revision of our manuscript and also that our manuscript has some problems, even though that was not our intention. Despite the shortcomings of this study, we firmly believe that our manuscript is not a duplicated one of Lee (2003). We hope this response clarifies points raised by Dr. Gøtzsche’s commentary on our paper. And we appreciate very much Dr. Gøtzsche’s efforts to review our manuscript in detail.
References Gøtzsche, P., 2008. Covert duplicate publication and misleading sample size calculation: commentary on Lee et al. (2006). International Journal of Nursing Studies 45 (9), 1398. Hong, C.S., Lee, M.K., 1992. Measurement of group I allergens of house dust mites of Seoul and monthly variations of Def fI. Allergy 12 (4), 482–492. Lee, I.S., 2003. Effect of bedding control on amount of house dust mite allergens, asthma symptoms, and peak flow rate. Yonsei Med. J. 44 (2), 313–322. Lee, I.S., Moon, J.S., Yoo, Y.S., 2006. Effectiveness of bedding control instruction for patients with respiratory allergies: a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies, doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2006.08.009 (WITHDRAWN)
Tel.: +82 2 590 1285; fax: 82 2 590 1297.
E-mail address: [email protected] 0020-7489/$ - see front matter r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2008.07.004
International Journal of Nursing Studies 45 (2008) 1399 www.elsevier.com/ijns
Response to Gøtzsche (2008) Jungsoon Moon College of Nursing, Catholic University of Korea, 505 Banpo-dong Secho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Republic of Korea
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to Dr. Gøtzsche’s commentary (Gøtzsche, 2008) on our paper and we apologize for any inconvenience. Dr. Gøtzsche raises some problems with our paper in his commentary. We respond to these below.
1. Duplication issue We do not think our study (Lee et al., 2006) is a duplication of Lee’s (2003) study. Lee examined Der fI and Der pI of HDM allergen I in 42 patients with asthma, while we examined allergen I & II in 71 patients with respiratory allergy. As we mentioned in the introduction, the previous study (Hong and Lee, 1992) revealed that allergen II is a more important factor in causing allergy than allergen I in Korean patients. Thus outcome variables differ. We referred to Lee’s (2003) study in our original (prerevised) manuscript, but it was deleted in the revised manuscript in effort to reduce the volume. It was our mistake not to mention the difference between Lee’s study and ours in the introduction.
2. Sample size justification With regard to his reference to the effect size, Dr. Gøtzsche’s commentary is correct. We were astonished to discover the mistake that we had made
and realized why Dr. Gøtzsche gave us such comments. We have nothing to say with this unbelievable mistake. We acknowledge our mistakes during the revision of our manuscript and also that our manuscript has some problems, even though that was not our intention. Despite the shortcomings of this study, we firmly believe that our manuscript is not a duplicated one of Lee (2003). We hope this response clarifies points raised by Dr. Gøtzsche’s commentary on our paper. And we appreciate very much Dr. Gøtzsche’s efforts to review our manuscript in detail.
References Gøtzsche, P., 2008. Covert duplicate publication and misleading sample size calculation: commentary on Lee et al. (2006). International Journal of Nursing Studies 45 (9), 1398. Hong, C.S., Lee, M.K., 1992. Measurement of group I allergens of house dust mites of Seoul and monthly variations of Def fI. Allergy 12 (4), 482–492. Lee, I.S., 2003. Effect of bedding control on amount of house dust mite allergens, asthma symptoms, and peak flow rate. Yonsei Med. J. 44 (2), 313–322. Lee, I.S., Moon, J.S., Yoo, Y.S., 2006. Effectiveness of bedding control instruction for patients with respiratory allergies: a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies, doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2006.08.009 (WITHDRAWN)
Tel.: +82 2 590 1285; fax: 82 2 590 1297.
E-mail address: [email protected] 0020-7489/$ - see front matter r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2008.07.004