Prevalence and characteristics of chronic cough in a general population study

<b>Background:</b> Chronic cough significantly impairs life quality and drives health care utilisation significantly. However, prevalence in a large general population has been rarely reported. <b>Aims and Objectives:</b> Aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence of chronic cough in a general population and to describe characteristics of these individuals. <b>Methods:</b> The LEAD study is a longitudinal, observational, population-based cohort study of a random sample of &gt; 11.000 individuals aged 6 to 80 years stratified by age and sex. Chronic cough (coughing nearly every day and/or in the morning during the last 12 month independent of common cold for at least 3 month), smoking habit (current, former, nonsmoker) and sputum production was evaluated by questionnaire. <b>Results:</b> Out of 11.387, prevalence of chronic cough was 7,9% (n=900). The mean duration of chronic cough was 6,6, ± 9,4 years. There was no gender predominance (mean prevalence in male 8,1%, in female 7,7%; p=0,57; Figure 1). However, chronic cough increased with age in both sexes (p&lt;0,001). From all participants with chronic cough 356 (39,6%) were current and 251 (27,9%) former smokers. 59,8% (n= 538) reported increased sputum production. <b>Summary and Conclusion:</b> In a well characterized general population sample, chronic cough is substantially prevalent both in men and female and lasts for many years. Thus, it seems that appropriate therapy is lacking and urgently needed.