Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Correlates of depressive symptoms in late middle -aged Taiwanese women: Findings fro m 
the 2009 Taiwan National Health Interview Survey  
 
Version: 1 Date: 22 Jun 2016  
 
Reviewer: Masakazu Terauchi  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
This is an interesting study investigating the relationship  between diabetes and depression in 
Taiwanese postmenopausal women, although my biggest concern is in the very usage of the term 
"postmenopausal". According to the authors, "postmenopausal women" were selected from 
female residents aged 50 -65y excluding th ose who had regular periods. However, there should 
be many women in their late 40's and early 50's who still has menstruation not necessarily 
regular, who are regarded to be in "menopausal transition" or "perimenopause". As women's risk 
of suffering from d epression or depressive symptoms are known to significantly increase in 
menopausal transition rather than in the postmenopausal period, menopausal status should be 
incorporated in the multivariate logistic regression analysis, or, at least, the title of th e paper 
should be changed to "Association between ... in women aged 50 -65y" etc. In the latter case, 
those who had been excluded from the study because they had regular menses should be 
included.  
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If no t, 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 drawn adequately supported by t he data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, ple ase specify 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:  
 
Acceptable  
 
 
Declaration of competing interests  
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