Cough Effects Our Lives In Different Ways

Cough is a symptom of many respiratory diseases; however a new study shows that chronic cough may affect quality of life differently, based on a patient’s disease. Researchers from Ireland administered three health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires to 147 outpatients (chronic cough n=83; COPD n=18; asthma n=20; and bronchiectasis n=26). Although the magnitude of cough specific HRQoL impairment was similar among all respiratory disease groups, subdomain scores revealed that patients with chronic cough suffer from more psychosocial issues than bronchiectatics but less functional impairment than COPD patients. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in generic health status across the four disease groups with the poorest health status in COPD patients. This study is published in the August issue of the journal CHEST.