Reviewer's report 
 Development and psychometric testing of the Visual Analogue Scale for Irritable Bowel Syndrome Title: 
(VAS-IBS) 
 2  18 March 2007 Version: Date: 
 Nicholas J Talley Reviewer: 
Reviewer's report: 
General 
I have re-read the paper. 
The methods state the recall period was 1 week but the questionnaire states 1 month. Which is correct? 
I am still concerned the English phrasing of the instrument is clumsy. It needs to be validated in English and 
this should be explicitly stated. 
Diarrhea and constipation mean different things to different people. This may be a concern in terms of 
reliability. 
I'd like to see data expressed in the abstract rather than generalities. 
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Major Compulsory Revisions (that the author must respond to before a decision on publication can be reached) 
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Minor Essential Revisions (such as missing labels on figures, or the wrong use of a term, which the author can be trusted to correct) 
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Discretionary Revisions (which the author can choose to ignore) 
 Accept after minor essential revisions What next?: 
 An article of limited interest Level of interest: 
 Acceptable Quality of written English: 
 No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a statistician. Statistical review: 
Declaration of competing interests: 
No competing interests. 
Reviewer's report 
 Development and psychometric testing of the Visual Analogue Scale for Irritable Bowel Syndrome Title: 
(VAS-IBS) 
 2  18 March 2007 Version: Date: 
 Nicholas J Talley Reviewer: 
Reviewer's report: 
General 
I have re-read the paper. 
The methods state the recall period was 1 week but the questionnaire states 1 month. Which is correct? 
I am still concerned the English phrasing of the instrument is clumsy. It needs to be validated in English and 
this should be explicitly stated. 
Diarrhea and constipation mean different things to different people. This may be a concern in terms of 
reliability. 
I'd like to see data expressed in the abstract rather than generalities. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Major Compulsory Revisions (that the author must respond to before a decision on publication can be reached) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Minor Essential Revisions (such as missing labels on figures, or the wrong use of a term, which the author can be trusted to correct) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Discretionary Revisions (which the author can choose to ignore) 
 Accept after minor essential revisions What next?: 
 An article of limited interest Level of interest: 
 Acceptable Quality of written English: 
 No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a statistician. Statistical review: 
Declaration of competing interests: 
No competing interests. 
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report 
 Development and psychometric testing of the Visual Analogue Scale for Irritable Bowel Syndrome Title: 
(VAS-IBS) 
 2  18 March 2007 Version: Date: 
 Nicholas J Talley Reviewer: 
Reviewer's report: 
General 
I have re-read the paper. 
The methods state the recall period was 1 week but the questionnaire states 1 month. Which is correct? 
I am still concerned the English phrasing of the instrument is clumsy. It needs to be validated in English and 
this should be explicitly stated. 
Diarrhea and constipation mean different things to different people. This may be a concern in terms of 
reliability. 
I'd like to see data expressed in the abstract rather than generalities. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Major Compulsory Revisions (that the author must respond to before a decision on publication can be reached) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Minor Essential Revisions (such as missing labels on figures, or the wrong use of a term, which the author can be trusted to correct) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Discretionary Revisions (which the author can choose to ignore) 
 Accept after minor essential revisions What next?: 
 An article of limited interest Level of interest: 
 Acceptable Quality of written English: 
 No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a statistician. Statistical review: 
Declaration of competing interests: 
No competing interests. 
assistant