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Original Article
 

Chronic cough and QoL in allergic and respiratory diseases measured by a new specific validated tool-CCIQ
 

F. Braido1, I. Baiardini2, F. Tarantini1, O. Fassio2, S. Balestracci1, M. Pasquali1, F. Tarchino1, G. Walter Canonica1

1 Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, DIMI, Genoa University, Genoa, Italy
2 Department of Psychology, Turin University, Turin, Italy

J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2006; Vol. 16(2): 110-116
 

 Abstract


Summary. Even though chronic cough (CC) is a bothersome symptom, only a small number of studies have evaluated its specific burden on health-related quality of life (HRQL). The aim of the present study was to assess how the presence of CC interferes with HRQL. A total of 95 outpatients were enrolled during medical consultation at our “Chronic Cough Center”. A health status measure (SF-36) and a new HRQL questionnaire specific for CC (CCIQ) were administered before the initial visit.
Compared to the reference sample, CC patients reported significantly lower scores in 5 of 8 SF-36 domains: Social functioning (t=10.292), Physical role limitation (t=9.667), Emotional role limitation (t=7.712), General health (t=5.154) and Vitality (t=4.426). The analysis of CCIQ scores showed a disability due to CC, independent of its etiology. The greatest disabilities were observed in the Social relationship (58.33) domain, followed by
Sleep/Concentration (54.26), Mood (51.49) and Daily activities (47.69). Sleep, disturbing the partner, and irritability were the three outstanding aspects, affecting 80% of patients.
These results show that CC has a high negative impact on HRQL, and they further suggest that the CCIQ is a useful tool for obtaining a global evaluation including its impact and therapeutic options.

Keywords: Chronic cough, quality of life, specific questionnaire.