Chest
Clinical InvestigationsCOUGHGender Differences in Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients Complaining of Chronic Cough
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
We performed a post hoc analysis of data collected prospectively2 during psychometric testing of the cough quality-of-life questionnaire (CQLQ) in a control group of 31 smokers who were observed to be coughing but were not complaining of cough, and in 154 consecutive and unselected patients complaining of chronic cough (ie, the original cohort) who were seeking medical attention in the cough clinic of our academic, tertiary care, medical center. Chronic cough was defined as a cough of at least
Characteristics of Control Smoker Group
This group was composed of 31 smokers who were not seeking medical attention. They were observed to be coughing in an employee smoking area and were not complaining of cough. There were 22 women and 9 men in the group with a mean (± SD) age of 41.4 ± 11.3 years.
CQLQ Scores for Women and Men in the Control Smoker Group
Men's total CQLQ scores were higher than those for women (32.86 ± 7.85 vs 40.44 ± 7.53, respectively; t29 = 2.47; p < 0.02). Men also scored higher than women on the following two subscales: physical complaints (10.18 ± 2.12 vs 14.33 ±
Discussion
Cough can mean different things to different people. It depends on their perspective. To the patient, coughing is an indicator that something is wrong with their body, and it can be the cause of a variety of complications6 that can significantly decrease their HRQOL.2 Because the term HRQOL defines a patient's perception of the impact of health and disease on multiple domains of his/her life (eg, physical function and psychosocial state), it is of the highest importance to patients. With
Conclusion
We conclude that women with chronic cough in our study were probably more inclined to seek medical attention than men with chronic cough because the HRQOL of the women was more adversely affected than men, and because women were more apt to experience physical complaints such as stress urinary incontinence that provoked psychosocial issues such as becoming embarrassed. Because we did not measure cough reflex sensitivity in our study, it is not possible to know whether or not a higher cough
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Cited by (92)
Risk Factors for Persistent Chronic Cough During Consecutive Years: A Retrospective Database Analysis
2022, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In PracticeCitation Excerpt :These surveyed patients with CC reported by validated questionnaires that their CC was severe and accompanied by poor cough health status (Leicester Cough Questionnaire) and quality of life (Cough Quality of Life Questionnaire), frequent cough hypersensitivities (Hull Airway Reflux Questionnaire) and frequent cough triggers, poor response to medications, and frequent HCRU.10 CC was especially more burdensome for women and non-White patients.10,20-23 With respect to differences in CC by sex, women have been reported to manifest increased sensitivity to capsaicin, a cough trigger,24 and greater cough frequency and heightened cough reflex25 compared with men, which is consistent with the higher frequency of women with PCC in the present study.
Global Physiology and Pathophysiology of Cough: Part 2. Demographic and Clinical Considerations: CHEST Expert Panel Report
2021, ChestCitation Excerpt :This includes capsaicin hypersensitivity that is mediated by the increased activity of transient receptor potential channels expressed on vagal C-fibers mediating cough, and mast cells that are known to express receptors for female sexual hormones.43 Another explanation as to why women more frequently than men complain of chronic cough relates to the observations that the health-related quality of life of women is more adversely affected than men because women are more likely to seek medical attention because they are more apt to experience physical complaints associated with coughing, such as urinary stress incontinence, that then provoke psychosocial issues such as embarrassment.44 Similar sex differences in health-related quality of life have not been seen during acute cough.45
Patient-Reported Burden of Chronic Cough in a Managed Care Organization
2021, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In PracticeCitation Excerpt :Prior studies noted that, compared with men, women exhibited an 8.7-point higher HARQ score than men,24 which was somewhat higher than the difference of 4.7 in the HARQ score found in the present study. Similar to the higher 7.8-point difference in CQLQ between women and men in the present study, significant differences of 6.1-7.426,40,41 were reported previously in smaller cohorts. In support of the greater disease burden of CC in women, capsaicin sensitivity42 and cough frequency and heightened cough reflex39 were reported to be greater in women than men.
Presented in part and published in abstract form at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society, May 20, 2001, in San Francisco, CA.