Review for 10.1186/s12876-018-0873-0 (2018)

Reviewer ’s report  
Title: Epidemiology of Paediatric Constipation in Indonesia and i ts association with exposure to 
stressful life events  
 
Version: 0 Date: 27 Jul 2018  
 
Reviewer: Abdolvahab W. Alborzi  
 
Reviewer's report:  
In this study, the authors investigated the incidence of pediatric constipation in Indonesia and its 
association with exposure to stressful life events.  
Overall, no real novelty is present in terms of epidemiology, but from the point of view of the 
stress ful life events in children who suffer from chronic constipation, it may be informative and 
useful.  
 
Some shortcomings should be considered as listed below:  
 
Remove (.) after "P=0.002)." in this part "… such as father's alcoholism (adjusted OR 1.91, 95% 
CI 1.27 -2.89, P=0.002). Severe illness of". It seems that these sentences are in continuation of 
the first sentence.  
 
What is the meaning of these statements: "sitting for government examination" and "failure in an 
examination", explain briefly.  
 
Add refere nce for this part: "Population of Indonesia is estimated over 261 million people and is 
the world's 4th most populous country and the most populous country in the Austronesian region. 
About 53 per cent of the population lives in urban areas. Indonesia has 17,504 islands with over 
300 different native languages that are spoken in Indonesia."  
 
Add reference for this part: "The inhabitants of these areas are predominantly regular employees 
(68.2%) and own account workers (15.2%)."  
Reference for this part is n ot relevant to constipation: "Brain imaging studies have identified 
structural and functional alterations in association with self -reported adverse life events in 
several areas of the brain that integrate viscero -sensory and emotional arousal [29]"  
 
Remove  "And" in this part "And in the second round (November -December 2016), 854 …".  
 
Rewrite this part: "Indonesia has around 85 million children or one -third of the national  
population according to the estimates of the Unicef records", it seems that "or" shoul d be 
replaced with proper word.  
 
Add description for this state in the table 1: "1.00 (ref.)"  
 
Suggested reading in introduction and discussion:  
 
Investigation of Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Children with Constipation 
Referring to the Ped iatric Gastrointestinal Clinic, Shiraz in 2014 -2016  
Authors  
Mahmood Haghighat, Zahra Amiri, Seyed Mohsen Dehghani, Ali Reza Safarpour, Maryam 
Ataollahi, Arash Mani, Rahele Haghighat, Abbas Rezaianzadeh  
 
Clinical manifestations among children with chronic functional constipation  
Authors  
Seyed Mohsen Dehghani, Niloofar Kulouee, Naser Honar, Mohammad -Hadi Imanieh, Mahmood 
Haghighat, Hazhir Javaherizadeh  
 
Thanks  
 
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.  
Yes 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately 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 manus cript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects requ ire 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:  
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, f ees, funding, or salary from 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 of 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 re lating 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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