How to quantify coughing: correlations with quality of life in chronic cough

Different methods are used for quantifying coughing in sound recordings, but as yet no method has been shown to be more valid than any other. In the present study, the relationships between three different units of cough were examined and their ability to predict subjective ratings of cough and cough-related quality of life were evaluated. In total, 70 subjects (mean+/-SD age 55+/-11.7 yrs, 51 (73%) females) with chronic unexplained cough (median duration 4.8 yrs, interquartile range 2.5-10.1 yrs) performed fully ambulatory 24-h sound recordings, which were manually counted by trained observers and quantified by 1) explosive phases, 2) cough seconds and 3) cough epochs. Subjects also completed cough visual analogue scales (VAS) and the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ). All units of cough were strongly correlated; explosive phases and cough seconds correlated slightly more strongly than cough seconds with cough epochs or explosive phases with cough epochs. LCQ scores correlated moderately with explosive phases and seconds; epochs correlated slightly less well. Cough VAS scores showed a similar pattern. Explosive phases and seconds are interchangeable units of cough, moderately related to subjective measures and cough-related quality of life; epochs are a less satisfactory alternative.