The validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Leicester Cough Questionnaire in COPD patients

The reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) have been evaluated before. This study aimed to validate the Turkish version of the LCQ in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with cough.

COPD (GOLD B, C, D) patients over age 40 (n = 75) and healthy volunteers as a control group (n = 75) were included. A sociodemographic data form, the LCQ, the Short Form-36 (SF-36) quality of life questionnaire, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Form for Turkish people were completed. The internal reliability of the LCQ was determined using the Cronbach alpha coefficient (>0.6) and its repeatability by the intraclass consistency coefficient (P < 0.05) was accepted as significant.

For internal consistency, Cronbach alpha coefficients of all subscales of the LCQ, physical, psychological, and social, were found as 0.72, 0.86, and 0.83, respectively, with 0.92 for the total index. There was significant internal consistency for all subscales and the total index (Cronbach alpha coefficients of >0.6). In test–retest reliability, the correlation coefficient ranged between 0.71 and 0.80 for each question and was calculated as r = 0.89 for total LCQ score (P < 0.001).

The Turkish version of the LCQ has been found to have acceptable reliability and validity for use in Turkish COPD patients with chronic cough.