[Prolonged cough in children in the primary care office]

Prolonged cough, defined as a cough lasting more than three weeks, is frequent in population studies however we don't know if a lot of them are consulting their general practitioner. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of this complaint in general practice and to explore what diagnoses and treatments general practitioners give for it. Every child between 5 and 17 years consulting their physicians (N=34) were prospectively recruited over a period of two weeks. The data of this consultation and from their field were analyzed. 10.7% of the children had suffered from prolonged cough in the six months preceding the consultation. Diagnoses were by order of frequency: asthma, lower respiratory tract infection, ENT causes, gastro-oesophageal reflux. Inhaled medications were the most frequently prescribed treatment followed by antitussive drugs and antibiotics. In conclusion, prolonged cough was a frequent problem for the general practitioner. They thought about the most importance etiology according to the Belgian guideline expect environmental etiology.