Management of chronic cough in patients receiving palliative care: review of evidence and recommendations by a task group of the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland.

Background: Chronic cough is a disruptive and exhausting symptom, reported as very distressing in a quarter of those in their last year of life. Existing guidelines for management of chronic cough primarily deal with the commonest benign causes of cough: asthma; eosinophilic bronchitis; gastro-oesophageal reflux disease; rhinosinusitis.

Aim/design: to examine what literature evidence exists and formulate recommendations for managing chronic cough in patients with advanced, progressive, life-limiting illnesses.