Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Epidemiology of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Iran : A Systematic Review and Meta -
analysis  
 
Version: 1 Date: 03 Jul 2020  
 
Reviewer: Naoki Hashimoto  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
This is very interesting paper.  
I ask some questions to author.  
 
1. According to author's paper, the prevalence of smoking among Iranian men an d women 
was reported to be 21.7% and 3.6% respectively. In the present author's study, only the daily 
symptoms of GERD were significantly higher in women compared to men. Please tell me the 
reason why the daily symptoms of GERD were significantly higher on  woman compared to men.  
 
2. According to author's paper, the weekly and overall prevalence of GERD in the south 
was 21.6% and in the north was 60.86%. Please tell me the reason why the frequency of GERD  is 
very high in north Iran.  
 
3. Please tell me the rea son why the global prevalence of GERD is incresing over time.  
 
Publons Reviewer Recognition . Springer Nature can send verifica tion of this review directly to 
Publons (a subsidiary of Clarivate Analytics). If you would like to take advantage of this service,  
please click on the “Yes” option below. Your name, email  address, title of the reviewed manuscript, 
name of the journal, and date of your review submission (the “Review Data ”) will then be 
transmitted to Publons upon publication of the  manuscript.  If you have already registered at 
Publons, they will notify you of the receipt of this review and update your profile as per your 
settings and their policy. If you are not registered with Publons,  you will receive an email from 
them asking you  to register in order for them to be able to re cognize your review on your new 
profile page. Publons may use the Review Data to generate derivat ive metadata for the benefit of 
Publons and you as a reviewer, carefully considering the sensitivity of such inf ormation. For 
example, Publons may verify your record as a reviewer by updatin g your profile published on its 
webservice if you have registered for such service or help editors t o identify candidate reviewers. 
Please find the details of processing in Publo ns’ privacy policy https://publons.com/about/terms  
 
Yes 
 
Are the met hods 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.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manus cript or would you recommend an additional 
statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy 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 manuscr ipt: 
 
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, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may  in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat 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 in terests' below.  
If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
No  
 
Reviewer Publication Consent. I agree fo r my report to be made  available under an Open Access 
Creative Commons CC -BY License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 ) if this 
manuscript is accepted for publication. Any comments that I do not wish to be included in the 
published report have be en included as confidential comments to the editor, which will not be 
published.  If you are not happy for us to publish this report, please contact the edi torial office 
before completing the review.  If you wish, you can include your name in your published re port. 
Please note you must decide whether to include your name at the start of the process and  confirm 
this decision whenever prompted. If you change your decision later, we will not be able to publish 
your name.  
 
I agree to the terms of the CC -BY 4.0 license; please publish my name with my report.  
Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Epidemiology of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Iran : A Systematic Review and Meta -
analysis  
 
Version: 1 Date: 03 Jul 2020  
 
Reviewer: Naoki Hashimoto  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
This is very interesting paper.  
I ask some questions to author.  
 
1. According to author's paper, the prevalence of smoking among Iranian men an d women 
was reported to be 21.7% and 3.6% respectively. In the present author's study, only the daily 
symptoms of GERD were significantly higher in women compared to men. Please tell me the 
reason why the daily symptoms of GERD were significantly higher on  woman compared to men.  
 
2. According to author's paper, the weekly and overall prevalence of GERD in the south 
was 21.6% and in the north was 60.86%. Please tell me the reason why the frequency of GERD  is 
very high in north Iran.  
 
3. Please tell me the rea son why the global prevalence of GERD is incresing over time.  
 
Publons Reviewer Recognition . Springer Nature can send verifica tion of this review directly to 
Publons (a subsidiary of Clarivate Analytics). If you would like to take advantage of this service,  
please click on the “Yes” option below. Your name, email  address, title of the reviewed manuscript, 
name of the journal, and date of your review submission (the “Review Data ”) will then be 
transmitted to Publons upon publication of the  manuscript.  If you have already registered at 
Publons, they will notify you of the receipt of this review and update your profile as per your 
settings and their policy. If you are not registered with Publons,  you will receive an email from 
them asking you  to register in order for them to be able to re cognize your review on your new 
profile page. Publons may use the Review Data to generate derivat ive metadata for the benefit of 
Publons and you as a reviewer, carefully considering the sensitivity of such inf ormation. For 
example, Publons may verify your record as a reviewer by updatin g your profile published on its 
webservice if you have registered for such service or help editors t o identify candidate reviewers. 
Please find the details of processing in Publo ns’ privacy policy https://publons.com/about/terms  
 
Yes 
 
Are the met hods 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.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manus cript or would you recommend an additional 
statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy 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 manuscr ipt: 
 
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, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may  in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat 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 in terests' below.  
If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
No  
 
Reviewer Publication Consent. I agree fo r my report to be made  available under an Open Access 
Creative Commons CC -BY License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 ) if this 
manuscript is accepted for publication. Any comments that I do not wish to be included in the 
published report have be en included as confidential comments to the editor, which will not be 
published.  If you are not happy for us to publish this report, please contact the edi torial office 
before completing the review.  If you wish, you can include your name in your published re port. 
Please note you must decide whether to include your name at the start of the process and  confirm 
this decision whenever prompted. If you change your decision later, we will not be able to publish 
your name.  
 
I agree to the terms of the CC -BY 4.0 license; please publish my name with my report.  
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Epidemiology of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Iran : A Systematic Review and Meta -
analysis  
 
Version: 1 Date: 03 Jul 2020  
 
Reviewer: Naoki Hashimoto  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
This is very interesting paper.  
I ask some questions to author.  
 
1. According to author's paper, the prevalence of smoking among Iranian men an d women 
was reported to be 21.7% and 3.6% respectively. In the present author's study, only the daily 
symptoms of GERD were significantly higher in women compared to men. Please tell me the 
reason why the daily symptoms of GERD were significantly higher on  woman compared to men.  
 
2. According to author's paper, the weekly and overall prevalence of GERD in the south 
was 21.6% and in the north was 60.86%. Please tell me the reason why the frequency of GERD  is 
very high in north Iran.  
 
3. Please tell me the rea son why the global prevalence of GERD is incresing over time.  
 
Publons Reviewer Recognition . Springer Nature can send verifica tion of this review directly to 
Publons (a subsidiary of Clarivate Analytics). If you would like to take advantage of this service,  
please click on the “Yes” option below. Your name, email  address, title of the reviewed manuscript, 
name of the journal, and date of your review submission (the “Review Data ”) will then be 
transmitted to Publons upon publication of the  manuscript.  If you have already registered at 
Publons, they will notify you of the receipt of this review and update your profile as per your 
settings and their policy. If you are not registered with Publons,  you will receive an email from 
them asking you  to register in order for them to be able to re cognize your review on your new 
profile page. Publons may use the Review Data to generate derivat ive metadata for the benefit of 
Publons and you as a reviewer, carefully considering the sensitivity of such inf ormation. For 
example, Publons may verify your record as a reviewer by updatin g your profile published on its 
webservice if you have registered for such service or help editors t o identify candidate reviewers. 
Please find the details of processing in Publo ns’ privacy policy https://publons.com/about/terms  
 
Yes 
 
Are the met hods 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.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manus cript or would you recommend an additional 
statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy 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 manuscr ipt: 
 
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, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may  in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat 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 in terests' below.  
If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
No  
 
Reviewer Publication Consent. I agree fo r my report to be made  available under an Open Access 
Creative Commons CC -BY License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 ) if this 
manuscript is accepted for publication. Any comments that I do not wish to be included in the 
published report have be en included as confidential comments to the editor, which will not be 
published.  If you are not happy for us to publish this report, please contact the edi torial office 
before completing the review.  If you wish, you can include your name in your published re port. 
Please note you must decide whether to include your name at the start of the process and  confirm 
this decision whenever prompted. If you change your decision later, we will not be able to publish 
your name.  
 
I agree to the terms of the CC -BY 4.0 license; please publish my name with my report.  
assistant