Half of children with recurrent or chronic wet cough before three years of age were symptom-free by age seven.

Aim: We aimed to study the natural course of recurrent episodic and chronic wet cough in preschool children, the proportion and age of resolution, and risk factors for persistent symptoms.

Methods: Parents of children with recurrent or chronic wet cough who had attended the outpatient clinic before the age of three years during 2010-2013 at Stavanger University Hospital, Norway, answered a questionnaire regarding clinical symptoms and current medication at a follow-up in 2017-2018.

Results: We invited 840 children to participate, and parents consented for 348 (41.4%) of the children. At the first outpatient visit, 171 children (58.8%) had recurrent episodic and 120 (41.2%) had chronic wet cough. At follow-up at a median age of 82 months, 57.0% in both groups were symptom-free, and 9.4% with episodic cough and 13.3% with chronic cough had more than mild symptoms. During the last 12 months prior to the survey, 27.2% with episodic cough and 18.6% with chronic cough had used inhaled corticosteroids.

Conclusion: Half of the preschool children with recurrent episodic or chronic wet cough outgrew their symptoms by the median age of seven years, but one in four still used inhaled corticosteroids.