Assessment of Cough Impact
The assessment for chronic cough impact is important for evaluating the response to therapy. The severity of cough can be measured in several aspects: symptom severity, frequency, intensity and impact on quality of life. These are a few of the validated tools now available that are used to assess cough.
Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ)*
The LCQ is a cough specific quality of life tool which has 19 questions relating to the impact cough is having on their physical, psychological and social wellbeing. Each question is scored from 1 (maximum impact) to 7 (minimal impact) and an average score calculated for each domain (physical, psychological and social) ranging from 1-7 and hence a total score between 3 -21. The higher score the less the impact.
Cough-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (CQLQ)*
The CQLQ is a 28-item questionnaire with 6 domains developed in the US. The CQLQ is well validated in chronic and acute cough. It has good internal reliability, repeatability, responsiveness and the MID in chronic cough is 13 units
Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)
VAS are widely used for the subjective assessment of cough because they are brief and easy to use, with which the subject is asked to mark on a 100 mm scale between ‘no cough’ and ‘the worst cough severity’. The advantage of VAS is that they assess the symptom in isolation and reflect the severity. They are also freely available. The VAS is practical for use in research.