Integration of Behavioral Cough Suppression Therapy Into Lung Cancer Care: Nonpharmacologic Interventions for Chronic...

Chronic cough is a demanding symptom of lung cancer. Clinical research tends to underestimate the impact of lung cancer-related cough on patient quality of life. Current guidelines do not describe how oncology nurses, as a vital part of the interprofessional team, can use nonpharmacologic interventions described by behavioral cough suppression therapy (BCST) techniques for patients with lung cancer.

This article aims to provide oncology nurses with insight into BCST and investigates how to integrate BCST into lung cancer care.

A literature search for primary articles related to BCST was conducted using the electronic databases PubMed® and CINAHL®. The 2017 American College of Chest Physicians' guideline and expert panel report served as a major resource.

Oncology nurses can investigate the use of BCST techniques for patients with lung cancer with chronic cough as a nonpharmacologic intervention. Assessment of patients with chronic cough should be carried out before initiating referral for BCST, including identifying cough triggers, causes of cough, and cough types.