Chronic cough in asthmatics associated with more severe disease

Published online: March 2, 2019

Chronic cough is defined as a cough lasting more than 8 weeks and has important impacts on quality of life in affected individuals. Despite cough as a cardinal respiratory symptom in asthma, we still lack knowledge of the role and impact of chronic cough in individuals with asthma in the general population.  

In a research article recently published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, Çolak and colleagues have investigated differences in respiratory symptoms, healthcare utilization, lung function, and biomarkers in blood between asthmatics with and without chronic cough using a Danish population-based cohort study of 14,740 randomly chosen adults.

The study found that among individuals with asthma, those with chronic cough versus those without have more often accompanying respiratory symptoms and healthcare utilization, more severe airflow limitation, and higher levels of systemic inflammatory biomarkers in blood. The results show that chronic cough in individuals with asthma is associated with a more severe disease phenotype.

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice is an official journal of the AAAAI, focusing on practical information for the practicing clinician.