A cross sectional study to determine the prevalence of cough and its impact in patients with lung cancer: a patient unmet need.

Background: There is absence of literature related to cough prevalence and its characteristics in lung cancer patients, with information deriving only from broader symptoms occurrence studies. The aims of this study were to provide a snapshot of the prevalence of all-cause-cough in lung cancer patients and to characterise cough in terms of its impact and severity.

Methods: A cross-sectional study recruiting consecutive lung cancer patients over a pre-defined period of time and using cough-specific validated tools in a tertiary referral centre in the UK, including a cough severity VAS and the Manchester Cough in Lung Cancer scale (MCLCS).