Reviewer's report 
 Anxiety and depression in patients with gastrointestinal cancer: does knowledge of cancer diagnosis Title: 
matter? 
 1  3 May 2007 Version: Date: 
 Colin Martin Reviewer: 
Reviewer's report: 
General 
This is a generally well-written and interesting report investigating the psychological experiences, in terms of 
anxiety and depression of patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer. The article will appeal to readers 
with an interest in the psychosocial aspect of gastrointestinal cancer and will also be of relevance to those 
with an interest in the cross-cultural persepective of the cancer patients psychological experience. 
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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) 
One issue within the current paper is that of the definition of with/without knowledge. Since all the patients 
have a ca diagnosis and the authors use a criteria of 'patients ability to acknowledge the illness', which to 
me seems a little vague, clarification on what this actually means specifically both in assessment and acheivement of such criteria is required. 
On page 7. a p value of 0.05 should not be described as marginal. 
In table 2. I would prefer to see the degrees of freedom for the analysis added. 
Where means are included in the text I would also personally prefer to have the SD's repported. 
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Discretionary Revisions (which the author can choose to ignore) 
There are a few spelling and grammar errors in the manuscript which would benefit from a thorough 
spelling/grammar check. 
 Accept after minor essential revisions What next?: 
 An article whose findings are important to those with closely related research interests 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: 
I declare that I have no competing interests 
Reviewer's report 
 Anxiety and depression in patients with gastrointestinal cancer: does knowledge of cancer diagnosis Title: 
matter? 
 1  3 May 2007 Version: Date: 
 Colin Martin Reviewer: 
Reviewer's report: 
General 
This is a generally well-written and interesting report investigating the psychological experiences, in terms of 
anxiety and depression of patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer. The article will appeal to readers 
with an interest in the psychosocial aspect of gastrointestinal cancer and will also be of relevance to those 
with an interest in the cross-cultural persepective of the cancer patients psychological experience. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
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) 
One issue within the current paper is that of the definition of with/without knowledge. Since all the patients 
have a ca diagnosis and the authors use a criteria of 'patients ability to acknowledge the illness', which to 
me seems a little vague, clarification on what this actually means specifically both in assessment and acheivement of such criteria is required. 
On page 7. a p value of 0.05 should not be described as marginal. 
In table 2. I would prefer to see the degrees of freedom for the analysis added. 
Where means are included in the text I would also personally prefer to have the SD's repported. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Discretionary Revisions (which the author can choose to ignore) 
There are a few spelling and grammar errors in the manuscript which would benefit from a thorough 
spelling/grammar check. 
 Accept after minor essential revisions What next?: 
 An article whose findings are important to those with closely related research interests 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: 
I declare that I have no competing interests 
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report 
 Anxiety and depression in patients with gastrointestinal cancer: does knowledge of cancer diagnosis Title: 
matter? 
 1  3 May 2007 Version: Date: 
 Colin Martin Reviewer: 
Reviewer's report: 
General 
This is a generally well-written and interesting report investigating the psychological experiences, in terms of 
anxiety and depression of patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer. The article will appeal to readers 
with an interest in the psychosocial aspect of gastrointestinal cancer and will also be of relevance to those 
with an interest in the cross-cultural persepective of the cancer patients psychological experience. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
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) 
One issue within the current paper is that of the definition of with/without knowledge. Since all the patients 
have a ca diagnosis and the authors use a criteria of 'patients ability to acknowledge the illness', which to 
me seems a little vague, clarification on what this actually means specifically both in assessment and acheivement of such criteria is required. 
On page 7. a p value of 0.05 should not be described as marginal. 
In table 2. I would prefer to see the degrees of freedom for the analysis added. 
Where means are included in the text I would also personally prefer to have the SD's repported. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Discretionary Revisions (which the author can choose to ignore) 
There are a few spelling and grammar errors in the manuscript which would benefit from a thorough 
spelling/grammar check. 
 Accept after minor essential revisions What next?: 
 An article whose findings are important to those with closely related research interests 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: 
I declare that I have no competing interests 
assistant