[Respiratory history of children and chronic cough in adolescents]

The purpose of this work was to study the relation between respiratory history during childhood and teenagers' chronic cough and possible abnormalities of pulmonary function. This etiological survey was carried out among 538 pupils with a chronic cough and 1,094 controls (boys and girls), teenagers attending school in Bordeaux and its surroundings (average age, 16.7 years). The data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires among the teenagers and their parents. Spirometry was performed in a randomised sample of 172 pupils. A significant relation was found between chronic cough and both respiratory history and a decrease of F.E.V.1 (in boys and girls) and F.E.F. 25-75 (in girls only). Moreover this relation was present also among the subjects with incomplete answers and in the group of non-asthmatics.