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. 2024 Dec;134(12):5010-5014.
doi: 10.1002/lary.31673. Epub 2024 Aug 2.

Laryngeal Vibrotactile Stimulation Is Feasible, Acceptable To People With Unexplained Chronic Cough

Stephanie Misono  1 , Erin Y Shen  2 , Anna G Sombrio  3 , Scott Lunos  4 , Jiapeng Xu  5 , Jesse Hoffmeister  1 , Ali Stockness  1 , Lisa Butcher  6 , Daniel Weinstein  1 , Nathaniel T Gaeckle  7 , Raluca Gray  1 , Jürgen Konczak  5
Affiliations

Laryngeal Vibrotactile Stimulation Is Feasible, Acceptable To People With Unexplained Chronic Cough

Stephanie Misono et al. Laryngoscope. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: Unexplained chronic cough (UCC) is common and has significant impacts on quality of life. Ongoing cough can sensitize the larynx, increasing the urge to cough and perpetuating the cycle of chronic cough. Vibrotactile stimulation (VTS) of the larynx is a noninvasive stimulation technique that can modulate laryngeal somatosensory and motor activity. Study objectives were to assess feasibility and acceptability of VTS use by people with UCC. Secondarily, changes in cough-related quality of life measures were assessed.

Methods: Adults with UCC recorded cough measures at baseline and after completing 2 weeks of daily VTS. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed through participant-reported device use and structured feedback. Cough-related quality of life measures were the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) and the Newcastle Laryngeal Hypersensitivity Questionnaire (NLHQ).

Results: Nineteen adults participated, with mean age 67 years and cough duration 130 months. Notably, 93% of planned VTS sessions were logged, 94% of participants found the device comfortable to wear, 89% found it easy to operate and 79% would recommend it to others. Pre-post LCQ change achieved a minimal important difference (MID) (mean 1.3 [SD 2.4, p = 0.015]). NLHQ scores improved, but did not reach an MID.

Conclusions: Laryngeal VTS use was feasible and acceptable for use by patients with UCC and was associated with a meaningful improvement in cough-related quality of life. Future studies will include VTS dose refinement and the inclusion of a comparison arm to further assess the potential for laryngeal VTS as a novel treatment modality for UCC.

Level of evidence: 4 Laryngoscope, 134:5010-5014, 2024.

Keywords: chronic cough; quality of life; vibrotactile stimulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The study was supported by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grant (UL1TR002494 to S.M. and J.K.); NIH National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (K23DC016335 to S.M. and R01DC016315 to J.K.); and an American College of Surgeons and the Triological Society grant to S.M.. Additional support was provided by the Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium at the University of Minnesota.

The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study. The contents of the publication represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent the funding organizations.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Individual LCQ scores at baseline (Pre) and after the application of VTS (Post). The data depicted in the boxplot represent the distribution of the difference scores between the two time points. Upper and lower bounds of the box are 25%ile and 75%ile; center line is the median, and upper and lower whiskers represent the minimum and maximum (excluding outlier, ±1.5*IQR, indicated by circle). The diamond represents the mean change, with whiskers within the box representing the 95% confidence interval.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
NLHQ scores at baseline (Pre) and final (Post), and a boxplot of the difference between the two time points. Upper and lower bounds of the box are 25%ile and 75%ile; center line is the median, and upper and lower whiskers represent the minimum and maximum (excluding outliers, ±1.5*IQR). The diamond represents the mean change, with whiskers within the box representing the 95% confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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