[Acute dry coughs have underestimated impacts on patients' everyday lives]

To describe the clinical features of dry cough, its socio-professional consequences and impact on patients' quality of life.

Cross-sectional observational study conducted in daily practice of general practice.

One thousand and six hundred and five patients aged 43 years, 52.2% of whom were men, were included in the study. Pharyngeal irritation was present in 95.4% of the patients, asthenia in 90.2%, headache in 78.3%, muscle pain in 75.8%, dysphonia in 42.3%, a change in general condition in 23.1%, dysphagia in 19.8%, and dyspnoea in 17.4%. An infectious syndrome was the likely origin of the cough in 48.3% of the patients. The cough affected family life for 92.7% of them, professional life for 81.7%, and social life for 90.8%. The average CQLQ quality of life score was 56, reflecting a marked alteration in their quality of life. We noted that 47.3% of the patients were exhausted, 38.8% experienced nausea and 15.8% vomiting. Among the patients, 14.0% of the patients experienced release of urine, and in women this rate reached 28.0% of them; 76.7% of patients had trouble sleeping due to their cough and 24.4% had an Epworth score above 18, indicating a severe risk of drowsiness during the day.

An effective treatment for coughing therefore appears to be an absolute necessity, since this goes far beyond simple coughing discomfort itself.