Chest
Original ResearchSigns and Symptoms of Chest DiseasesA Multicenter Study on Chronic Cough in Children: Burden and Etiologies Based on a Standardized Management Pathway
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
This prospective multicenter cohort study was conducted in five major hospitals (Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, and Darwin) and three rural-remote clinics (Orange [New South Wales], Anangu Pitjanjatjara Lands in Central Australia [South Australia], and Thursday Island [Queensland]). The study is an extension of our randomized controlled trial (RCT) that examined the early (2 weeks) vs delayed (6 weeks) use of cough pathway algorithm.16 Of the 346 children included in this study, 253
Results
The demographics of the 346 children (Table 1) were significantly different between the sites for several variables: household smoke exposure (lowest in Brisbane, highest in Darwin), number of children with wet cough (lowest in Canberra, highest in Brisbane), use of asthma medications (lowest in rural sites, highest in Canberra), number of indigenous children (lowest in Melbourne, highest in rural sites), and referral pattern. Age, sex, and number of siblings were not significantly different
Discussion
In this first prospective multicenter cohort study, we used an evidence-based cough algorithm to manage the chronic cough of 346 newly referred children. Using validated cough outcome measures and a priori definitions and timeframes to define cough resolution, we found that the burden of chronic cough (PC-QOL) differed significantly between clinical settings, but was not influenced by age, nor etiology of cough. There was a wide spectrum of etiology of chronic cough that was significantly
Acknowledgments
Author contributions: Dr Chang had full access to the data and takes responsibility for the integrity of all of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Dr Chang: contributed to drafting, preparing, and critically reviewing the manuscript, was responsible for the study concept and design, and coordinated the study.
Dr Robertson: contributed to the study design; data collection, analyses, and interpretation; and revising the manuscript.
Dr Van Asperen: contributed to the study design; data
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Funding/Support: This study is funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grant [490321]. Dr Chang is supported by a NHMRC fellowship [545216].
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