Observational studyChest2025
Clustering Patients With Chronic Cough Using Reported Sensations and Triggers: Results from the Triggers and Sensations Provoking Coughing Questionnaire.
Observational study in Chest, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Genetic Architecture of Chronic Cough: From Sensory Hypersensitivity to Treatable Trait.Pulmonary therapy · 2026Review
- Bridging Clinical Phenotypes and Histopathological Endotypes in Refractory Chronic Cough.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Female predominance in chronic cough: biological sex-related factors, mechanisms, and therapeutic targets-a narrative review.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChronic cough (CC) is one of the most common symptoms reported to primary care and to respiratory outpatient clinics. The Triggers and Sensations Provoking Coughing (TOPIC) questionnaire is a 15-item questionnaire designed to capture sensations and triggers associated with CC in a fashion that discriminates between refractory CC (RCC) and other causes of CC. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: Does a relationship exist between TOPIC questionnaire scores and other measures of cough in patients referred to 3 specialist cough clinics? Can patients with CC be clustered based on reported sensations and triggers as captured by the TOPIC questionnaire? STUDY DESIGN AND
methodsThis was a multicenter observational study. Data were collected including the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) score, verbal cough severity, day and night cough visual analog scale score, 24-hour cough frequency, and TOPIC questionnaire results. Patterns of TOPIC questionnaire responses were explored using cluster analysis.
resultsBaseline data were collected from 101 participants. Demographics of study participants were typical of patients with CC; 65% were female with a mean (SD) age of 59 (12.9) years. Baseline TOPIC questionnaire score correlated moderately negatively with baseline LCQ score (r = -0.59; P < .001), but not with other subjective or objective measures of cough. Hierarchical and K mean cluster analysis were used to group study participants into 4 distinct clusters based on triggers and sensations of cough as captured by the TOPIC questionnaire: (1) high sensations burden, (2) vocal triggers, (3) eating triggers, and (4) need to clear throat. These groups showed statistically significant differences in demographics and subjective measures of cough (P < .01).
interpretationPatients with CC reported unpleasant somatic sensations and cough triggers captured by the TOPIC questionnaire, associated with lower LCQ scores and worse quality of life. Our results suggest that TOPIC questionnaire responses can be used to cluster patients into clinical phenotypes based on reported sensations and triggers.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.