Search

Background: Refractory and unexplained chronic cough (RCC and UCC) necessitate frequent referral for specialist evaluations, but data on healthcare resource utilisation and costs are lacking., Methods: This observational study enrolled adults with RCC or UCC attending a specialist cough clinic and included a control cohort, both from North West England, matched 1:5 for age, gender and smoking history. Primary and secondary care data were obtained for the 5 years prior to and 2 years post initial clinic visit (index). The primary endpoint was the total 5-year healthcare cost to the UK NHS pre-RCC or UCC diagnosis compared to the control cohort., Results: Mean age at index for the 200 RCC or UCC consented patients was 62.2 ± 11.4 years; 71% were female, and 68% had never smoked. Mean duration of symptoms pre-diagnosis was 8.0 ± 9.4 years. Mean cough severity score was 63.7 ± 23.2 mm at index on a Visual Analog Scale, and Leicester Cough Questionnaire total score was 10.9 ± 4.1. GP data were available for 80 patients and mean total cost over the 5 years pre-diagnosis (index date) was 3.0-fold higher (95% CI 2.3, 3.9) than in the control cohort (p < 0.001). Most excess costs were related to visits and procedures carried out in secondary care. RCC- or UCC-associated costs decreased post-diagnosis, but remained higher than those of controls., Conclusion: Diagnosis of RCC or UCC requires significant health resource utilisation in the 5 years prior to a specialist clinic diagnosis. Resource utilisation was less after diagnosis, but remained higher than in a matched control cohort., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Microaspiration is often considered a potential cause of cough. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between microaspiration, the degree and type of gastroesophageal reflux, and the frequency of coughing in patients with chronic cough., Methods: One hundred patients with chronic cough (mean [± SD] age, 55.8 years [± 11.0 years]; 65 women) and 32 healthy volunteers (median age, 43.5 years [interquartile range (IQR), 30-50.8 years]; 16 women) were recruited. Patients with chronic cough performed 24-h objective cough frequency with simultaneous esophageal impedance/pH monitoring and measurement of pepsin concentrations in sputum and BAL. Twelve healthy volunteers underwent bronchoscopy/BAL, and 20 underwent impedance/pH monitoring., Results: Patients with chronic cough had significantly more reflux episodes than healthy volunteers (median, 63.5 reflux episodes [IQR, 52.5-80.0] vs 59.0 [IQR, 41.8-66.0]; P = .03), although the absolute difference was small, and there was no difference in numbers of events extending into the proximal esophagus (median, 17.2% [IQR, 8.0%-26.0%] vs 20.3% [IQR, 5.1%-32.1%]; P = .36). BAL pepsin levels were also similar in chronic cough to control subjects (median, 18.2 ng/mL [range, 0-56.4 ng/mL] vs 9.25 ng/mL [range, 0-46.9 ng/mL]; P = .27). Sputum but not BAL pepsin weakly correlated with the number of proximally occurring reflux events (r = 0.33, P = .045) but was inversely related to cough frequency (r = −0.52, P = .04). Sputum pepsin was, therefore, best predicted by combining the opposing influences of cough and proximal reflux (r = 0.50, P = .004)., Conclusions: Proximal gastroesophageal reflux and microaspiration into the airways have limited roles in provoking chronic cough. Indeed, coughing appears to be protective, reducing pepsin concentration in the larger airways of patients with chronic cough.

Rationale: A focus on distinctive collections of symptoms may be more informative of the probability of respiratory disease than individual and possibly transient phenotypes. However, such collections or components of overall symptomatology need to be valid, and their relationship established with the known risk factors and physiologic measures., Objectives: To analyze detailed parentally reported respiratory symptoms by principal components analysis and derive symptom components; to examine the relationship of such components with measures of lung physiology and atopy., Methods: An unselected, population-based birth cohort (n = 946)., Measurements and Main Results: Interviewer-administered questionnaires, lung function (specific airway resistance [sRaw]), airway reactivity (dry air challenge), and atopic status were obtained at ages 3 and 5 years; principal components analysis and multivariate analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. The four-component solution (wheeze, cough, colds, chronic symptoms) explained 53.2% of the variance in symptoms at age 3, and the five-component solution (wheeze, wheeze with irritants, wheeze with allergens, cough, chest congestion) explained 49.8% of variance at age 5. The multivariate analysis revealed novel relationships between symptoms, risk factors for asthma, and measures of lung function. At age 3, sRaw and the interaction between maternal asthma and child's atopy were not only related to wheeze but also independently to the cough component. At age 5, overall wheeze and allergic wheeze were related to lung function and airway reactivity; child's atopy was only related to symptoms when considered as a continuous trait., Conclusions: Our analysis supports the need to move beyond the presence or absence of individual symptoms. Syndromes of coexisting symptoms more likely reflect underlying pathophysiologic processes.