Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Psychological distress and self -rated health status in reproduc tive aged women with pain: 
findings from a national, cross -sectional survey  
 
Version: 1 Date: 04 Feb 2019  
 
Reviewer: Xiaoyan Iris Leng  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
This paper examined psychological distress and self -rated health status with pain severity in 
reproductive aged women from a national cross -sectional survey. I have a couple of  comments 
about the paper:  
1. It only became clear to me after reading the resu lts session that the analyses were done 
separately by groups (pregnant, breastfeeding and NP/NF). This should be stated in the 
methods session when writing analysis plan.  
 
2. The small sample sizes of pregnant and breastfeeding groups make the estimates of 
prevalence less precise (wider confidence interval). I think the authors should state this as a 
limit in the discussion session. On the other hand, given the small sample sizes, for the 
analyses of associations between health status and pain severity, I wo uld recommend to 
combine "excellent" and "very good"  and then combine "fair" and "poor" to make the points. 
Tables with actual percentages might be preferred instead of plots.  
On Page 7, line 127 -128, this sentence should be removed since it might not be true for pregnant 
and breastfeeding groups.  
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the author s. 
 
No 
 
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 the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your commen ts to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
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, please 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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1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an  
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3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relatin g to the content of the  
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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?  
 
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below.  If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I h ave no competing interests . 
 
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