Observational studyTherapeutic advances in respiratory disease
Antitussive efficacy of the current treatment protocol for refractory chronic cough: our real-world experience in a retrospective cohort study.
Observational study in Therapeutic advances in respiratory disease. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- The efficacy and safety of duloxetine in treating refractory chronic cough: a randomized clinical trial.BMC medicine · 2026Trial
- Skin hypersensitivity in chronic cough patients: symptom profiles and psychosomatic correlates.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Efficacy and safety of Xingqin Ganke Granules in postinfectious cough: study protocol for a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging phase II clinical trial.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Efficacy and safety of flupentixol-melitracen in patients with refractory chronic cough: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Decoding the impact of the placebo response in clinical trials for chronic cough.ERJ open research · 2024Article
- Predicting response to neuromodulators in refractory chronic cough: An interpretable machine learning approach.Therapeutic advances in respiratory diseaseObservational
- Role of alveolar nitric oxide in gastroesophageal reflux-associated cough: prospective observational study.Therapeutic advances in respiratory diseaseObservational
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe management of refractory chronic cough (RCC) is a great challenge. Neuromodulators have long been used for RCC with imperfect efficacy.
objectivesWe summarized the outcomes of the current treatments used at our specialist cough clinic, which provides a guideline-led service and real-world experience for the future management of RCC.
designThis is a single-centre retrospective observational cohort study.
methodsConsecutive RCC patients (the first clinic visit between January 2016 and May 2021) were included into this observational cohort study. Medical records in the Chronic Cough Clinical Research Database were fully reviewed using uniform criteria. The included subjects were followed-up for at least 6 months after the final clinic visit via instant messages with the link to self-scaled cough-associated questionnaires.
resultsOverall, 369 RCC patients were analysed with a median age of 46.6 years and a cough duration of 24.0 months. A total of 10 different treatments were offered. However, 96.2% of patients had been prescribed at least one neuromodulator. One-third of patients had alternative treatments prescribed given the poor response to the initial therapy and 71.3% favourably responded to at least one of the treatments. Gabapentin, deanxit, and baclofen had comparable therapeutic efficacy (56.0%, 56.0%, and 62.5% respectively;
conclusionTrying different neuromodulators is a pragmatic strategy for RCC, which helped around two-thirds of patients. Relapse is common on withdrawal or reduction of dosage. Novel medication for RCC is an urgent clinical need. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: This is the first report that fully represented a guideline-led treatment protocol for refractory chronic cough (RCC) based on a large series of patients, which evaluated the short- and long-term effects of the currently available treatments for RCC. We found that the therapeutic trial of different neuromodulators is a pragmatic strategy, which helped around two-thirds of patients. Gabapentin, deanxit (flupentixol/melitracen), and baclofen had similar therapeutic outcomes. This study may offer real-world experience for the future management of RCC.
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