Prescriptions of opioid-containing drugs in patients with chronic cough.

Background: Chronic cough (CC) affects about 10% of adults, but opioid use in CC is not well understood.
Objectives: To determine the use of opioid-containing cough suppressant (OCCS) prescriptions in patients with CC using electronic health records.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Methods: Through retrospective analysis of Midwestern U.S. electronic health records, diagnoses, prescriptions, and natural language processing identified CC - at least three medical encounters with cough, with 56-120 days between first and last encounter - and a 'non-chronic cohort'. Student's t -test, Pearson's chi-square, and zero-inflated Poisson models were used.
Results: About 20% of 23,210 patients with CC were prescribed OCCS; odds of an OCCS prescription were twice as great in CC. In CC, OCCS drugs were ordered in 38% with Medicaid insurance and 15% with commercial insurance.
Conclusion: Findings identify an important role for opioids in CC, and opportunity to learn more about the drugs' effectiveness.