Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: "Is it menopause or bipolar?": A qualitative study of the experience of menopause for 
women with bipolar disorder  
 
Version: 1 Date: 11 Sep 2017  
 
Reviewer: Roman Shrestha  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Thank you for the opp ortunity to review this manuscript. Overall, this paper is well -written and 
will be of interest to the readers of "BMC Women's Health". Please find below my specific 
comments:  
- "A 61 recent meta -data analysis of qualitative studies that explored the exper ience of 
symptoms and 62 the diagnosis of bipolar disorder noted..." Authors may want to remove the 
word 'recent' from this sentence. We're in 2017 and the study conducted in 2013 doesn't seem 
recent enough.  
- Participant incentive if any?  
- "Participants were recruited via advertising on social media websites targeted at midlife 
women living in Australia....." Could the authors provide more detail on this part? For 
example, restriction on geographic location within Australia, specific social media, etc.  
- Did the authors record the phone conversation for analytical purpose?  
- Instead of just mentioning the authors drew upon positioning theory, it'd be better if the 
authors could provide more details as to how it was utilized in the overall analytical 
approa ch. 
- I'd recommend the authors to include specific quotes in a separate paragraph to make it easier 
on the readers.  
- Authors may want to include specific details as to how they can use their findings to inform 
future interventions.  
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work incl ude 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 t o assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to asse ss 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 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 financially from the publication of 
this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares  in an organisation that 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 recei ved 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, 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 to the open peer r eview policy of the journal. I understand that my name will be included  
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted for publication, my named report  
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to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal