• Eskild Landt, Yunus Çolak, Peter Lange, Lars Christian Laursen, Børge G Nordestgaard, and Morten Dahl.
• Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark; Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Zealand University Hospital, Køge, Denmark.
• Chest. 2020 Jun 1; 157 (6): 1446-1454.

BackgroundThe role and impact of chronic cough in individuals with COPD have not been described in the general population. This study hypothesized that comorbid chronic cough is a marker of disease severity in individuals with COPD.MethodsThis study identified individuals with COPD and chronic cough, and recorded respiratory symptoms, health-care utilizations, lung function, and inflammatory biomarkers in blood in a nested cohort of 43,271 adults from the Copenhagen General Population Study (CGPS).ResultsAmong 43,271 individuals from the general population, 8,181 (19%) experienced COPD, of whom 796 (10%) had chronic cough. Individuals with COPD and chronic cough had a Leicester Cough Questionnaire median (25th-75th percentiles) total score of 17.7 (16.0-18.9), corresponding to 5.9 (5.3-6.3) for the physical domain, 5.6 (4.9-6.3) for the psychological domain, and 6.3 (5.8-6.8) for the social domain. Among individuals with COPD, those with chronic cough vs those without chronic cough more often experienced sputum production (60% vs 8%), wheezing (46% vs 14%), dyspnea (66% vs 38%), chest pain/tightness (9% vs 4%), nighttime dyspnea (8% vs 3%), episodes of acute bronchitis/pneumonias in the last 10 years (45% vs 25%), and ≥ 3 general practitioner visits in the past 12 months (53% vs 37%). Furthermore, these individuals had lower FEV1 % predicted (81% vs 89%) and FEV1/FVC (0.64 vs 0.66), as well as higher levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, leukocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, and IgE in blood.ConclusionsComorbid chronic cough in individuals with COPD is associated with a more severe disease in terms of more respiratory symptoms and health-care utilizations, lower lung function, and increased inflammation in blood.Copyright © 2020 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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