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. 2025 Jul 31;17(7):4672-4680.
doi: 10.21037/jtd-2024-1994. Epub 2025 Jul 25.

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

Youngsang Yoo  1 , Ha-Kyeong Won  2 , Eun-Jung Jo  3 , Seung-Eun Lee  4 , Noeul Kang  5 , Byung-Jae Lee  5 , Sae-Hoon Kim  6 , Sang-Heon Kim  7 , Sang-Hoon Kim  8 , Ji-Su Shim  9 , Min-Hye Kim  9 , Sung-Yoon Kang  10 , Jin An  11 , Han-Ki Park  12 , Byung-Keun Kim  13 , Young-Chan Kim  14 , Ji-Hyang Lee  14 , Mi-Yeong Kim  15 , Ji-Yoon Oh  16 , Kyung-Eun Park  17 , Yeonhee Kim  18 , Joon-Woo Bahn  19 , Hwa Young Lee  20 , Woo-Jung Song  18
Affiliations

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

Youngsang Yoo et al. J Thorac Dis. .

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