Cough scores in interstitial lung disease ‘predict fibrosis progression and death’
Poorer cough-specific quality of life in patients with interstitial lung disease is an independent predictor of hospitalisation, transplantation and death, researchers say.
Findings from the first-of-its-kind study add to a growing body of evidence on the value of assessing cough not only in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis but in the broader interstitial lung disease (ILD) population as well.
The University of Utah-led team used data from the US-based Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Patient Registry to determine whether cough-specific quality of life – measured by Leicester cough questionnaire (LCQ) scores — predicts disease progression and mortality.
The male-majority cohort included more than 1400 patients with ILD; the mean age was 68 years and the average LCQ score was 16.5, which was categorised as mild.
