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: 2 Date: 30 Nov 2016  
 
Reviewer: Masakazu Terauchi  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Now it looks like a completely new paper, raising another couple of concerns:  
 
#1 Authors have introduced a new factors into the analysis "somatic climacteric symptoms" and 
"psychological climacteric symptoms". It is sur prising that "psychological symptoms" including 
an item "feeling depressed" is NOT significantly associated with "depressive symptoms" 
assessed by CES -10. Authors should definitely elucidate this discrepancy in the discussion 
section.  
 
#2 As I have mention ed in the previous review, menopausal transition is the most critical period 
for the middle -aged women to get depressed. Therefore, it is inevitable to include menopausal 
status in the multivariate logistic regression analysis. Of course the reviewers know  why the 
authors couldn't do that, but they should explain why to the readers in the discussion/limitation 
section.  
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If no t, 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.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
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  
 
 
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