EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PERSISTENT COUGH

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Abstract
Persistent cough, together with the production of phlegm, is common in the American male population. The findings in the present study are consistent with those of other American and British investigators and indicate that the most important factor in persistent cough is cigarette smoking. The greater the exposure to cigarette smoke, the greater the risk of developing persistent cough. In nonlnhaling cigar and pipe smokers, persistent cough is only slightly greater than in nonsmokers. Nasal catarrh sinusitis and postnasal drip plays an important contributory role in persistent cough. Although in the present study no attempt was made to differentiate between "throat cough" and "bronchial cough," it is possible to make clinical distinctions between these 2 conditions. It is the former type of cough that presumably is most frequently associated with nasal catarrh. Climatic factors such as damp and cold weather seem to have an aggravating effect on the coughs of relatively few people in the USA. This finding does not exclude the likelihood that in Great Britain climatic factors may play an important role in the initiation and progression of persistent cough. Occupational factors play a limited role in the epidemiology of persistent cough. Urban residence, as an indicator of air pollution, was not found to have any measurable effect on the frequency of persistent cough. This finding does not exclude the possibility that in special urban and industrial settings, as in parts of Great Britain, air pollution does contribute to persistent cough, and especially to the development of the more advanced type of chronic bronchitis.

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