Assessing efficacy of therapy for cough.
An antitussive agent should reduce the amount of coughing experienced by the patient sufficiently for the patient to appreciate an improvement in cough severity and regard the improvement as sufficient to outweigh any adverse effects or risks associated with the treatment. In recent years the development of objective cough counting devices and cough-specific quality of life tools have vastly improved our ability to appropriately assess the effectiveness of anti-tussive agents and hopefully will lead to the development of safe and effective treatments in the future. This article summarizes current knowledge of methodologies available for assessing cough therapies, the patient groups to study, and the design of clinical trials.
Smith
Jaclyn A
JA
Respiratory Research Group, University of Manchester, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester, UK. jacky.smith@manchester.ac.uk
D000996:Antitussive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003371:Cough / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D018579:Patient Selection; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000996:Antitussive Agents