Relationship between age-related changes in the brain detected by plain head computed tomography and cough test...

Although the cough reflex in healthy older adults is believed not to change with age, clinical practice suggests that it may diminish. Therefore, we compared cough test results and plain head computed tomography findings to elucidate the factors influencing cough in older adults. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between age-related changes in the brain and the cough test. Although age-related changes in the brain can usually only be detected by plain head computed tomography, the results of this study may allow the cough test to be used in the future to screen for age-related changes in the brain without the need for scanning using plain head computed tomography.

A retrospective observational study was conducted on 169 male and female patients aged 65 years or older. Simple head computed tomography findings and cough test results were statistically examined using the chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis.

Of the 169 included patients, 61 were male and 108 were female, with a mean age of 88.2 ± 7.4 years. Among them, 143 were positive to the cough test, with a mean age of 86.8 ± 7.1 (52 males and 91 females); 26 were negative to the cough test, with a mean age of 86.0 ± 8.9 (9 males and 17 females); and 160 had age-related brain findings on simple head computed tomography (94.6% of all individuals). Regarding the cough test results, significant differences were found in terms of sex (p < 0.001), age-related changes in cerebral white matter area (p = 0.013) and pneumonia (p = 0.018); binomial logistic regression analysis showed significant differences in cerebral white matter lesions (p = 0.023) and pneumonia (p = 0.06).

We found that the presence of cerebral white matter lesions on plain head computed tomography was associated with cough test results. The present study suggests a link between age-related changes in the brain and the cough test.

Not applicable.