Reviewer’s report
Title:  Structured  physical  activity  interventions  as  a  complementary  therapy  for  patients  with  
inflammatory bowel disease – a scoping review and practical implications
Version: 2 Date: 06 May 2019
Reviewer: Aaron Walfish
Reviewer's report:
The authors did a nice job reviewing a challenging topic due to the very heterogeneous primary sources  
and the lack of robust trials on the topic. 
When reviewing and summarizing the trials you stated in line 181 "progressive training protocol leads  
to a significant improvement" can you clarify what significant improvement means as you do not  
provide confidence intervals.  This comment applies to table 2 where in the main findings column the  
authors do not define what they mean by "significant" throughout that column.
There are a number of grammatical and spelling errors. 
Line 36 "save" should be safe.
Line 40  "considered by PA interventions" does not make sense in addition since this the first time PA  
appears it should be written out in full. 
Line 54 "in addition it appears to rise worldwide"  should "be rising" worldwide
Line 57 "There is still a quite lack of knowledge" the word quite should be deleted
Line 60  "Both diseases show symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, abdominal cramps" Would deleted  
out constipation UC does not classically have constipation.
Line 255 "effects of moderat PA on" moderate is missing an e
line 261 "It is premature to state that exercise has an positive impact" an should be a
line 310 "fatigue as outcome" should read fatigue as an outcome add the word an
line 355 "study from found" delete the word from
line 344 "Besides these effects it is likely that regular PA" I do not believe from the data provided that  
the word "likely" is appropriate. The data supplied for exercise to have a beneficial anti-inflammatory  
impact on immunologic biomarkers in IBD should be stated as possible.
line 359 "Non of the studies" none is missing an e
line 364 "time constrains and pregnancy" constraints is missing a t
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.
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:
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.
I declare that I have no competing interests
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
Reviewer’s report
Title:  Structured  physical  activity  interventions  as  a  complementary  therapy  for  patients  with  
inflammatory bowel disease – a scoping review and practical implications
Version: 2 Date: 06 May 2019
Reviewer: Aaron Walfish
Reviewer's report:
The authors did a nice job reviewing a challenging topic due to the very heterogeneous primary sources  
and the lack of robust trials on the topic. 
When reviewing and summarizing the trials you stated in line 181 "progressive training protocol leads  
to a significant improvement" can you clarify what significant improvement means as you do not  
provide confidence intervals.  This comment applies to table 2 where in the main findings column the  
authors do not define what they mean by "significant" throughout that column.
There are a number of grammatical and spelling errors. 
Line 36 "save" should be safe.
Line 40  "considered by PA interventions" does not make sense in addition since this the first time PA  
appears it should be written out in full. 
Line 54 "in addition it appears to rise worldwide"  should "be rising" worldwide
Line 57 "There is still a quite lack of knowledge" the word quite should be deleted
Line 60  "Both diseases show symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, abdominal cramps" Would deleted  
out constipation UC does not classically have constipation.
Line 255 "effects of moderat PA on" moderate is missing an e
line 261 "It is premature to state that exercise has an positive impact" an should be a
line 310 "fatigue as outcome" should read fatigue as an outcome add the word an
line 355 "study from found" delete the word from
line 344 "Besides these effects it is likely that regular PA" I do not believe from the data provided that  
the word "likely" is appropriate. The data supplied for exercise to have a beneficial anti-inflammatory  
impact on immunologic biomarkers in IBD should be stated as possible.
line 359 "Non of the studies" none is missing an e
line 364 "time constrains and pregnancy" constraints is missing a t
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.
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:
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.
I declare that I have no competing interests
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
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer’s report
Title:  Structured  physical  activity  interventions  as  a  complementary  therapy  for  patients  with  
inflammatory bowel disease – a scoping review and practical implications
Version: 2 Date: 06 May 2019
Reviewer: Aaron Walfish
Reviewer's report:
The authors did a nice job reviewing a challenging topic due to the very heterogeneous primary sources  
and the lack of robust trials on the topic. 
When reviewing and summarizing the trials you stated in line 181 "progressive training protocol leads  
to a significant improvement" can you clarify what significant improvement means as you do not  
provide confidence intervals.  This comment applies to table 2 where in the main findings column the  
authors do not define what they mean by "significant" throughout that column.
There are a number of grammatical and spelling errors. 
Line 36 "save" should be safe.
Line 40  "considered by PA interventions" does not make sense in addition since this the first time PA  
appears it should be written out in full. 
Line 54 "in addition it appears to rise worldwide"  should "be rising" worldwide
Line 57 "There is still a quite lack of knowledge" the word quite should be deleted
Line 60  "Both diseases show symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, abdominal cramps" Would deleted  
out constipation UC does not classically have constipation.
Line 255 "effects of moderat PA on" moderate is missing an e
line 261 "It is premature to state that exercise has an positive impact" an should be a
line 310 "fatigue as outcome" should read fatigue as an outcome add the word an
line 355 "study from found" delete the word from
line 344 "Besides these effects it is likely that regular PA" I do not believe from the data provided that  
the word "likely" is appropriate. The data supplied for exercise to have a beneficial anti-inflammatory  
impact on immunologic biomarkers in IBD should be stated as possible.
line 359 "Non of the studies" none is missing an e
line 364 "time constrains and pregnancy" constraints is missing a t
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.
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:
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.
I declare that I have no competing interests
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
assistant