Association of throat sensation severity with quality of life in patients with chronic cough

Youngsang Yoo¹, Ha-Kyeong Won², Eun-Jung Jo³, Seung-Eun Lee⁴, Noeul Kang⁵, Byung-Jae Lee⁵, Sae-Hoon Kim⁶, Sang-Heon Kim⁷, Sang-Hoon Kim⁸, Ji-Su Shim⁹, Min-Hye Kim⁹, Sung-Yoon Kang¹⁰, Jin An¹¹, Han-Ki Park¹², Byung-Keun Kim¹³, Young-Chan Kim¹⁴, Ji-Hyang Lee¹⁴, Mi-Yeong Kim¹⁵, Ji-Yoon Oh¹⁶, Kyung-Eun Park¹⁷, Yeonhee Kim¹⁸, Joon-Woo Bahn¹⁹, Hwa Young Lee²⁰, Woo-Jung Song¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Gangneung Asan Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Gangneung, Korea.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Busan, Korea.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea.
⁵ Division of Allergy, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁶ Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
⁷ Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁸ Department of Internal Medicine, Eulji University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁰ Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Korea.
¹¹ Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
¹² Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital, Daegu, Korea.
¹³ Division of Pulmonology, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁴ Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
¹⁶ Division of Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁷ University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁸ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁹ Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
²⁰ Division of Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

PMID: 40809204
PMCID: PMC12340281
DOI: 10.21037/jtd-2024-1994

Association of throat sensation severity with quality of life in patients with chronic cough

Youngsang Yoo et al. J Thorac Dis. 2025.

. 2025 Jul 31;17(7):4672-4680.

doi: 10.21037/jtd-2024-1994. Epub 2025 Jul 25.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Gangneung Asan Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Gangneung, Korea.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Busan, Korea.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea.
⁵ Division of Allergy, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁶ Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
⁷ Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁸ Department of Internal Medicine, Eulji University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁰ Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Korea.
¹¹ Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
¹² Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital, Daegu, Korea.
¹³ Division of Pulmonology, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁴ Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
¹⁶ Division of Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁷ University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁸ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁹ Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
²⁰ Division of Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

PMID: 40809204
PMCID: PMC12340281
DOI: 10.21037/jtd-2024-1994

Abstract

Background: Patients with chronic cough frequently present with abnormal throat sensations, but the clinical significance of such sensations remains unknown. This study examined the severity of throat sensations and their relationships with quality of life (QoL) in patients with chronic cough.

Methods: The analysis used baseline cross-sectional data from the Korean Chronic Cough Registry. Throat sensation and cough severity were assessed using visual analog scales (VAS, 0-100) and were categorized into tertiles. Demographics and patient-reported outcomes were compared across the throat sensation severity tertiles. Cough-specific QoL was assessed using the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ). General health-related QoL was assessed using the standardized EuroQoL 5-Dimension (EQ-5D) instrument.

Results: A total of 649 patients with chronic cough (females: 68.1%) with a mean age of 54.7 years were enrolled. Throat sensation severity VAS scores moderately correlated with cough VAS scores (r=0.469, P<0.001). Patients with more severe throat sensations (tertile 3) were younger and had more concomitant symptom and cough-induced complications than those with less severe throat sensations (tertile 1) (P<0.001). Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that throat sensation severity remained significantly associated with LCQ score and EQ-5D index, after adjusting for confounders, including cough severity (all P<0.05).

Conclusions: Abnormal throat sensation may independently contribute to impaired QoL in patients with chronic cough, and its longitudinal impact warrants investigation.

Keywords: Chronic cough; globus sensation; quality of life (QoL).

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jtd-2024-1994/coif). W.J.S. serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Journal of Thoracic Disease. W.J.S. declares grants from Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. and AstraZeneca, consulting fees from Merck, Bellus, AstraZeneca, Shionogi, and GSK, and lecture fees from Merck, AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi, and Novartis. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Comparison of symptom severity VAS scores. (A) Box plot; and (B) scatter plot for correlations between throat sensation and cough severity VAS scores. VAS, visual analog scale.

**Figure 2**
Scatter plots presenting correlations between throat sensation severity VAS and patient-reported outcome scores. (A) CHQ; (B) LCQ, and (C) EQ-5D index. CHQ, Cough Hypersensitivity Questionnaire; EQ-5D, EuroQoL 5-Dimension; LCQ, Leicester Cough Questionnaire; VAS, visual analog scale.

**Figure 3**
Correlation matrix between symptom VAS and CHQ scores. CHQ, Cough Hypersensitivity Questionnaire; VAS, visual analog scale.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Chung KF, McGarvey L, Song WJ, et al. Cough hypersensitivity and chronic cough. Nat Rev Dis Primers 2022;8:45. 10.1038/s41572-022-00370-w - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Song WJ, Manian DV, Kim Y, et al. Cough Reflex Hypersensitivity as a Key Treatable Trait. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 2025;13:469-78. 10.1016/j.jaip.2024.10.046 - DOI - PubMed
1. Song WJ, Chang YS, Faruqi S, et al. The global epidemiology of chronic cough in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Respir J 2015;45:1479-81. 10.1183/09031936.00218714 - DOI - PubMed
1. An J, Lee JH, Won HK, et al. Cough Presentation and Cough-Related Healthcare Utilization in Tertiary Care: Analysis of Routinely Collected Academic Institutional Database. Lung 2022;200:431-9. 10.1007/s00408-022-00555-w - DOI - PubMed
1. Chamberlain SA, Garrod R, Douiri A, et al. The impact of chronic cough: a cross-sectional European survey. Lung 2015;193:401-8. 10.1007/s00408-015-9701-2 - DOI - PubMed

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Association of throat sensation severity with quality of life in patients with chronic cough

Affiliations

Association of throat sensation severity with quality of life in patients with chronic cough

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources