Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Outcome Measures For Chronic Cough: A Literature Review, Sarah Campbell

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Background: Approximately 9-10 percent of adults experience chronic cough. Chronic cough is a cough that lasts greater than eight weeks, with significant impacts on an individual's quality-of-life in social, psychological, and physical domains. Current treatment is not successful for all patients, and a lack of validated outcome measures makes it challenging to determine the efficacy of experimental chronic cough interventions.

Aims: The purpose of this review is to determine the optimal protocols for outcome measures needed to ascertain the efficacy of chronic cough treatment.

Main contribution: Inconsistent correlations were found between objective and subjective outcome measures. The strongest outcome measure …

Programmatic Desensitization Of The Cough Reflex In Patients With Refractory Chronic Cough, Emma Bozarth Dailey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Aim: The purpose of this blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial was to determine the potential of treating refractory chronic cough (RCC) using a progressive desensitization model paired with behavioral cough suppression.

Methods: Twelve adults with chronic cough who had failed behavioral cough treatment enrolled in and completed the study. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment (n=8) or placebo group (n=4). The study consisted of three phases. During Phase I, participants completed baseline testing, including cough sensitivity testing with capsaicin, the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), urge-to-cough-testing, and 24-hour cough frequency testing. During Phase II, participants practiced behavioral cough suppression …