Speech therapy in the management of difficult-to-treat chronic cough - preliminary results

The efficacy of management of chronic cough in adults is limited. Speech therapy is one of the few therapeutic methods which seems to be useful in patients with persistent chronic cough. However, the method has not been available in Poland so far. The aim of the study was to implement speech therapy and assess its efficacy in the management of patients with difficult-to-treat chronic cough.

Patients, who were diagnosed and managed due to difficult-to-treat chronic cough, were enrolled into the study. Speech therapy was developed on the basis of the technique described by Vertigan. The entire therapy consisted of eight weekly sessions, each lasting 45 minutes. Before and after speech therapy, cough severity and its impact on the quality of life was assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ). Additionally, cough challenge test with capsaicin was performed.

Eighteen women were enrolled into the study, 15 of them (83%) attended all treatment sessions (median age 66 years, median duration of cough 60 months). There was a significant decrease in cough severity measured by VAS (46 vs 28 mm, p = 0.016) after completion of speech therapy. A significant improvement in patients' quality of life measured by LCQ (10.7 vs 14.6 points, p = 0.004) and an increase in the threshold of cough reflex measured by capsaicin challenge were also demonstrated.

Speech therapy resulted in a decrease in cough severity and improvement of quality of life of females with refractory chronic cough. Our results support the use of speech therapy as add-on treatment in females with difficult-to-treat cough.