Purpose: Recent evidence suggests that cough hypersensitivity may be a common feature of chronic cough in adults. However, the clinical relevance remains unclear. This study evaluated the cough-related symptom profile and the clinical relevance and impact of cough hypersensitivity in adults with chronic cough.

Methods: This cross-sectional multi-center study compared cough-related laryngeal sensations and cough triggers in patients with unexplained chronic cough following investigations and in unselected patients newly referred for chronic cough. A structured questionnaire was used to assess abnormal laryngeal sensations and cough triggers. Patients with unexplained cough were also evaluated using the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) and a cough visual analogue scale (VAS), and these scores were assessed for correlations with the number of triggers and laryngeal sensations.

Results: This study recruited 478 patients, including 62 with unexplained chronic cough and 416 with chronic cough. Most participants reported abnormal laryngeal sensations and cough triggers. Laryngeal sensations (4.4 ± 1.5 vs. 3.9 ± 1.9; = 0.049) and cough triggers (6.9 ± 2.6 vs. 5.0 ± 2.8; < 0.001) were more frequent in patients with unexplained chronic cough than in those with chronic cough. The number of triggers and laryngeal sensations score significantly correlated with LCQ ( = -0.51, < 0.001) and cough VAS score ( = 0.53, < 0.001) in patients with unexplained chronic cough.

Conclusions: Cough hypersensitivity may be a common feature in adult patients with chronic cough, especially those with unexplained chronic cough. Cough-related health status and cough severity were inversely associated with the number of triggers and laryngeal sensations, suggesting potential relevance of assessing cough hypersensitivity in chronic cough patients.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6658400PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.4168/aair.2019.11.5.622DOI Listing

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