PONE-D-23-38611Can Internal Medicine specialists diagnose Functional Somatic Disorders (FSDs)? - Training and comparison with FSD specialists.PLOS ONE

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: The theme of the topic is good, and the paper provides a thorough literature review and background study. Still, the paper has some hindrances in justifying the study in the introduction section, the importance of selected models in the literature section, and the selected model should be validated in the methods and data section. I suggest the publication, but after considering the following minor comments.

1: Study Design: when was the study conducted?

2. The Introduction Section needs to be improved with relevant and updated references.

3: Time per patient: While the abstract mentions that internists require 3-4 hours per patient, it does not provide information on the practicality or feasibility of this time requirement in real-world clinical settings.

4: Generalizability: The study participants were referred to a non-psychiatric diagnostic clinic, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other settings or populations.

5: Small sample size: The study included only 27 patients, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. A larger sample size would provide more robust results and increase confidence in the conclusions drawn.

6. Check the presentation and Grammar of the article.

7: Improve the quality of your figure in the manuscript.

Reviewer #2: Dear authors

This is a well-written, sound and original paper presenting a new way of diagnosing patients with severe and complex symptoms known as functional somatic symptoms. The idea of the project great and the results very promising for this new model. Congratuations!!

The methods applies are well-applied and the statistics fine and reasonable. The only concern is the amount of participants, which is also mentioned as the weak point in this study,

I have no suggestions for major revision, only one comment in "Limitations" line 297-298:

"Limitations of this study include the small sample size (N=27) (which is arguably a large sample

given the specialist time requirements)".

I would suggest to leave out the comment in bracket not trying to justify the small sample size, but keep it simple

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: Reveiw report PLOS ONE.docx

Can Internal Medicine specialists diagnose functional somatic disorders (FSDs)? Training and comparison with FSD specialists

PONE-D-23-38611R1

Dear Dr. Madsen,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Zulqarnain Mushtaq, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The Authors incorporated all the suggested changes in a well-organized manner therefore, I recommend accepting the current manuscript in this form.

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If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

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Reviewer #1: No

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