Review for 10.1186/s12876-019-1143-5 (2019)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Pathogenetic approach to the treatment of functional disorder s of the gastrointestinal tract 
and their intersection: Results of the Russian Observation Retrospective Program COMFORT  
   
Version: 0 Date: 24 Sep 2019  
 
Reviewer: Antonio Facciorusso  
 
Reviewer's report:   
Authors should be commended for the great effort to collect data from a nationwide huge sample 
of patients. However, a great limitation i s the retrospective nature of the analysis, in particular in 
a field lacking of objective parameters and highly influenced by the patient's subjective 
perception of the symptoms.  
Other points to be addressed:  
 
- The questionnaire 7*7 is not validated in co untries other than Russia, hence the applicability of 
these findings in other regional settings is unclear.  
 
- Authors should acknowledge and comment the high risk of attrition bias, as only 9000 patients 
out of more than 14000 had final outcomes data.  
 
- Why a 50% decrease in the score was considered in the analysis? Is this cut -off based on 
previous studies?  
 
- English grammar should be considerably improved.  
 
- Statistical analysis should be better described in the Material and Methods section  
 
Are the methods appropriate and well des cribed?  
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.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions draw n 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 speci fy what aspects require 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 language 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 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 organ  isation 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 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, writ e '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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on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted f or publication, my named report 
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