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Chronic cough in adults: recommendations from an Italian intersociety consensus

  • Consensus document
  • Published:
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Chronic cough (CC) is a burdensome health problem in adult and older people, with a major impact on quality of life. Its management is often troublesome, and many guidelines have been released. Notwithstanding, a proportion of cases still do not reach a definite diagnosis and resolutive treatment. A coordinated approach between different specialists would be highly recommended, but its implementation in clinical practice suffers from the lack of shared protocols and poor awareness of the problem. The present consensus document has been implemented to address these issues.

Aims

To develop evidence-based recommendations for the management of adults with CC.

Methods

A 12-member expert task force of general practitioners, geriatricians, pneumologists, allergologists, otorhynolaringologists and gastroenterologists was established to develop evidence-based recommendations for the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to subjects with CC. A modified Delphi approach was used to achieve consensus, and the US Preventive Services Task Force system was used to rate the strength of recommendations and the quality of evidence.

Results

A total of 56 recommendations were proposed, covering 28 topics and concerning definitions and epidemiology, pathogenesis and etiology, diagnostic and therapeutic approach along with the consideration of specific care settings.

Conclusion

These recommendations should ease the management of subjects with CC by coordinating the expertise of different specialists. By providing a convenient list of topics of interest, they might assist in identifying unmet needs and research priorities.

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Acknowledgements

Editorial assistance in the preparation of this article was provided by Editamed srl, Torino, Italy.

Funding

This work, including travel and meeting expenses, was supported by an unrestricted grant from MSD Italia Srl. The sponsor had no role in selecting the participants, reviewing the literature, defining consensus statements, drafting or reviewing the paper, or in the decision to submit the manuscript. All views expressed are solely those of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, 00128, Rome, Italy

    Antonio De Vincentis & Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi

  2. Gastroenterology and Digestive Pathophysiology, Villalba Hospital, Bologna, Italy

    Fabio Baldi

  3. UOC di Pneumologia, Ospedale di Lamezia Terme, ASP di Catanzaro, Italy

    Massimo Calderazzo

  4. Emeritus Professor of Otorhinolaringology, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Umberto Caliceti

  5. Department of Cardiac-Thoracic-Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Gabriella Guarnieri

  6. Fondazione Policlinico IRCCS A. Gemelli, and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia

    Francesco Lombardi

  7. General Practitioner, Società Italiana di Medicina Generale (SIMG), Pneumology Area, Florence, Italy

    Francesco Paolo Lombardo

  8. Institute of Neuroscience, Aging Branch, CNR, Padua, Italy

    Stefania Maggi

  9. Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic Diseases and Ageing, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy

    Graziano Onder

  10. ASST-Rhodense, UOC Pneumologia, Garbagnate Milanese, Milan, Italy

    Adriano Vaghi

  11. Center for Cough Study, Bologna, Italy

    Alessandro Zanasi

Authors
  1. Antonio De Vincentis
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  2. Fabio Baldi
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  3. Massimo Calderazzo
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  4. Umberto Caliceti
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  5. Gabriella Guarnieri
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  6. Francesco Lombardi
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  7. Francesco Paolo Lombardo
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  8. Stefania Maggi
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  9. Graziano Onder
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  10. Adriano Vaghi
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  11. Alessandro Zanasi
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  12. Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi
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Consortia

Associazione Italiana Pneumologi Ospedalieri (AIPO), Associazione Italiana Studio Tosse (AIST), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Istituto Superiore Sanità (ISS), Società Italiana di Allergologia, Asma ed Immunologia Clinica (SIAAIC), Società Italiana di Geriatria e Gerontologia (SIGG), Società Italiana di Medicina Generale e delle Cure Primarie (SIMG), Società Italiana di Pneumologia (SIP)

Contributions

All authors contributed to material preparation, data collection and analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by AdV and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio De Vincentis.

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Conflict of interest

AZ has received grants from Menarini outside of the submitted work; SM has received grants from Sanofi Pasteur, MSD, GSK, Pfizer and Takeda outside of the submitted work; FL has received grants from MSD, Menarini, Chiesi, GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim outside of the submitted work; FB received grants for scientific consulting of Alfasigma; ADV, RAI, GG, MC, GO, FFL and AV report no conflict of interest.

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De Vincentis, A., Baldi, F., Calderazzo, M. et al. Chronic cough in adults: recommendations from an Italian intersociety consensus. Aging Clin Exp Res 34, 1529–1550 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-022-02154-4

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