TY - JOUR T1 - Chronic cough: a practical approach to assessment and management JF - Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin JO - Drug Ther Bull SP - 74 LP - 79 DO - 10.1136/dtb.2018.000014 VL - 57 IS - 5 AU - Abhinav Mathur AU - Patrick S K Liu-Shiu-Cheong AU - Ami Munro AU - Graeme P Currie Y1 - 2019/05/01 UR - http://dtb.bmj.com/content/57/5/74.abstract N2 - Key learning pointsChronic cough is a common reason for presentation to primary care; it has multiple respiratory and non-respiratory causes.In many patients, minimal baseline investigations lead to an easily identifiable and treatable cause. In others, no specific cause can be identified even after extensive investigations.In non-smoking patients who are not taking an ACE inhibitor and who have a normal chest X-ray, the most common causes of chronic cough are asthma, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and upper airway cough syndrome.There is an emerging theory that chronic idiopathic cough may represent a neuropathic disorder.A growing evidence base indicates that speech and language therapy may be helpful in the management of recalcitrant chronic cough.Cough is one of the most common symptoms that leads to a consultation in primary care.1 However, studies highlight that awareness of clinical guidelines on the management of cough among general practitioners (GPs) has been low and referral to specialist clinics may be premature.1,2 In this article, we review the management of adults with chronic cough in primary care and focus upon initial assessment and management strategies.Cough is a reflex action with a degree of voluntary and involuntary control. It is mediated by afferent sensory nerves (initiated by a wide variety of stimuli) resulting in forced expulsion against a closed glottis. Cough is arbitrarily defined as chronic when it lasts >8 weeks and can result from many conditions.3 Patients who have no clear cause after guideline-based assessment and investigation (see box 1), and who fail to respond to empirical treatments are usually labelled as having chronic idiopathic cough.4,5 It is important to differentiate chronic idiopathic cough from refractory chronic cough in which an explanation usually exists (eg, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]) but the cough remains despite treatment of the underlying condition.Box 1: Chronic cough clinical guidelinesBritish … ER -