The ability of cough provocation tests with hypertonic aerosols to differentiate subjects with chronic cough from healthy subjects
| First author [Ref.] | Agent | Cut-off value | Subjects with chronic cough n | Sensitivity | Healthy subjects n | Specificity |
| Singapuri [59] | Mannitol | Dose of mannitol≤550 mg to cause 5 coughs | 13 | 62% | 16 | 81% |
| Koskela [49] | Mannitol | ≥12.0 coughs·100 mg-1 | 17 | 82%# | 15 | 100%# |
| Johansson [45] | Mannitol | ≥69 coughs during the whole test | 22 | 95%# | 21 | 90%# |
| Nurmi [48] | Mannitol | ≥5.4 coughs·100 mg-1 | 36 | 92%# | 25 | 64%# |
| Koskela [20] | Hypertonic saline | Osmolality≤2213 mOsm·kg−1 to provoke 15 coughs | 47 | 66%# | 19 | 84%# |
| Johansson [45] | Hypertonic saline | ≥11 coughs during the whole test | 21 | 95%# | 21 | 95%# |
| Johansson [45] | Dry air hyperpnoea | ≥14 coughs during the whole test | 23 | 95%# | 21 | 86%# |
#: Calculated from the original data, based on the largest obtainable Youden index.