Ambulatory quantitative waking and sleeping cough assessment in patients with cystic fibrosis

Although cough is a commonly reported symptom, objective quantitation of cough during normal activity has not been performed in patients with CF.

An ambulatory device was used to characterize cough over 24 hours. Pulmonary function and subject-reported coughing were also assessed.

Patients included 19 clinically stable adults with CF (males:females=10:9; median age [range]=26 [19-57] years; median %-predicted FEV(1) [range]=65 [44-106]%). Median [range] cough rate was 27 [13-66] coughs/hour, with values while awake of 41 [20-102] and while asleep of 2 [0.1-7] (p<0.0001, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). Subjective reporting was consistent with objective data for wake-sleep differences, but correlated poorly with objective waking cough rate.

Outpatient cough quantitation in patients with CF is feasible, indicates frequent coughing even during clinical stability, and may be useful in therapeutic trials in CF.