Review for 10.1186/s12876-019-1103-0 (2019)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Irritable bowel syndrome -like symptoms and health related quality of life two years after  
Roux -en-Y gastric bypass - a prospective cohort study  
 
Version: 1 Date: 09 Sep 2019  
 
Reviewer: Yoav Mazor  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
I thank the authors for their reply to comments.  
 
I believe the manuscript contains relevant and reliable information for decision making and 
patient information.  
 
Nevertheless, there are crucial points that the authors seem to be unable to answer due to study 
design. These include:  
 
No control group  
 
Unava ilable information regarding medication  
 
Inability to differentiate among the functional abdominal pain syndromes, including pain vs 
discomfort as per Rome III  
 
No consistent work up for symptoms  
 
I suggest to reword the discussion as to have a paragraph sta rting with 'This study contains 
several major limitations...', and then list the relevant limitations as currently contained in the 
manuscript and also above.  
 
Regarding IBS -subtype information, I find the added information interesting and clinically 
relevant. Were the increases in all subgroups statistically significant?  I would suggest adding 
this information to the manuscript.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify w hat 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.  
 
No 
 
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 requir e 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:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following quest ions:  
 
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 relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial com peting 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  
 
I agree t o the open peer review policy of the journal. I understan d that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted f or publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be in cluded as confidential comments 
to the editor s, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal