Reviewer’s report
Title:  The Endometriosis Impact Questionnaire (EIQ): a tool to measure the long-term impact of  
endometriosis on different aspects of women's lives
Version: 0 Date: 07 Oct 2018
Reviewer: Reviewer 2
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS: To view the full report from the academic peer reviewer, please see  
the attached file.
REVIEWER COMMENTS FROM REPORT: The manuscript addresses an important topic and covers  
a critical gap of the literature published so far. The aim of the study is clear, the methodology is  
appropriate, data analysis  is accurate. Overall, the manuscript is well written and deserves  to be  
published, since it may become a useful tool to investigate quality of life and impact of the disease in  
women affected by endometriosis.
REQUESTED REVISIONS: 
I hereby list the most important points to address:
-Abstract: please revise for potential typos (for example: line 30, there should be a point after  
"events", before the capital letter).
-Endometriosis associated infertility is known to play a severe detrimental role on patient's  
quality of life (PMID: 28553145; PMID: 27750472) and sexuality (PMID: 29336414; DOI:  
10.5301/jeppd.5000303): in this scenario, just 3 items for infertility and 7 items for sexuality in  
my honest opinion do not reflect the burden of the disease. I invite authors to discuss these  
points.
-Introduction: authors should stress the known correlation about chronic pelvic pain, infertility  
and impaired psychological wellbeing in endometriotic women.
-Authors should state if they excluded from the testing phase patients affected by significant  
comorbidities which may have altered the study results/conclusion.
-Authors should state if they excluded from the testing phase patients undergoing psychotropic  
drugs or with alcohol/substance abuse, which may have altered the study results/conclusion.
-Probably, more detailed pieces of information about surgical/medical treatment may enhance  
the  validity  of  the  questionnaire:  just  for  example,  it  is  crystal  clear  that  a  patient  who  
underwent bowel resection has a potentially worse quality of life respect to another one who did  
not undergo the same surgery.
ADDITIONAL REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS: 
See comments above
Are the methods appropriate and well described?
If not, 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.
Yes
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the 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,  please  specify  what  aspects  require  further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.
Not relevant to this manuscript
Quality of written English
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:
Needs some language corrections before being published
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 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 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.
This reviewer has been recruited by a partner organization, Research Square. Reviewers with declared  
or  apparent  competing  interests  are  not  utilized  for  these  reviews.  This  reviewer  has  agreed  to  
publication of their comments online under a Creative Commons Attribution License attributed to  
Research Square and was paid a small honorarium for completing the review  within a specified  
timeframe. Honoraria for reviews such as this are paid regardless of the reviewer recommendation.
I agree to the open peer review 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 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 included as confidential comments to the editors, which will not  
be published.
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal