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Impact of Cough and Unmet Needs in Chronic Cough: A Survey of Patients in Korea

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Abstract

Purpose

Chronic cough is a common problem in various populations. The present study assessed the impact of cough and unmet needs in Korean patients with chronic cough.

Methods

This cross-sectional multi-center study enrolled adult patients newly referred to clinic for assessment of chronic cough. A second group of patients with unexplained chronic cough following detailed assessment were recruited for comparison. Patients completed self-reported questionnaires, including cough characteristics, impact of cough on daily life, and unmet needs.

Results

A total of 447 subjects were recruited from six referral clinics, including 408 with chronic cough and 39 with unexplained chronic cough. Almost all patients reported that cough impacted their daily lives. Psychosocial impacts were more evident in unexplained cough patients compared to newly referred patients. Approximately 75% of newly referred patients had previously sought medical care for cough on multiple occasions, but the effectiveness of treatment was limited (70.3%) or absent (17.3%). The most frequent unmet need was the ineffectiveness of treatment (49.3%), followed by unclear diagnosis (30.1%). The majority of participants ( > 80%) expressed the need for further information on accessing cough specialists and disease management. The main problem faced by unexplained cough patients was poor cough control despite treatment (64%).

Conclusions

Chronic cough has a substantial impact on daily life and is worst in those whose cough remains unexplained following assessment. Ineffectiveness of treatment and unclear diagnosis were major unmet needs. Medical information about chronic cough was also lacking. Improvements in the management of chronic cough patients in Korea are necessary.

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Funding

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Author notes

  1. Sung-Yoon Kang and Ha-Kyeong Won contributed equally to this article.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Korea

    Sung-Yoon Kang, Sang Min Lee & Sang Pyo Lee

  2. Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Ha-Kyeong Won & Woo-Jung Song

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Kangwon National University School of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea

    Jae-Woo Kwon

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

    Min-Hye Kim

  5. Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan, Korea

    Eun-Jung Jo

  6. Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea

    Seung-Eun Lee

  7. Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea

    Sae-Hoon Kim & Yoon-Seok Chang

  8. Division of Allergy, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Byung-Jae Lee

  9. Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Sang-Heon Cho

  10. Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences, School of Basic & Medical Biosciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, London, UK

    Surinder S. Birring

Authors
  1. Sung-Yoon Kang
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  2. Ha-Kyeong Won
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  3. Sang Min Lee
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  4. Jae-Woo Kwon
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  5. Min-Hye Kim
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  6. Eun-Jung Jo
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  7. Seung-Eun Lee
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  8. Sae-Hoon Kim
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  9. Yoon-Seok Chang
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  10. Sang Pyo Lee
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  11. Byung-Jae Lee
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  12. Sang-Heon Cho
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  13. Surinder S. Birring
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  14. Woo-Jung Song
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Woo-Jung Song.

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All the authors declared that they have no conflict of interest.

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Kang, SY., Won, HK., Lee, S.M. et al. Impact of Cough and Unmet Needs in Chronic Cough: A Survey of Patients in Korea. Lung 197, 635–639 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-019-00258-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-019-00258-9

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