[Acute dry coughs have underestimated impacts on patients' everyday lives].
OBJECTIVE
To describe the clinical features of dry cough, its socio-professional consequences and impact on patients' quality of life.


METHODS
Cross-sectional observational study conducted in daily practice of general practice.


RESULTS
One thousand and six hundred and five patients aged 43 years, 52.2% of whom were men, were included in the study. Pharyngeal irritation was present in 95.4% of the patients, asthenia in 90.2%, headache in 78.3%, muscle pain in 75.8%, dysphonia in 42.3%, a change in general condition in 23.1%, dysphagia in 19.8%, and dyspnoea in 17.4%. An infectious syndrome was the likely origin of the cough in 48.3% of the patients. The cough affected family life for 92.7% of them, professional life for 81.7%, and social life for 90.8%. The average CQLQ quality of life score was 56, reflecting a marked alteration in their quality of life. We noted that 47.3% of the patients were exhausted, 38.8% experienced nausea and 15.8% vomiting. Among the patients, 14.0% of the patients experienced release of urine, and in women this rate reached 28.0% of them; 76.7% of patients had trouble sleeping due to their cough and 24.4% had an Epworth score above 18, indicating a severe risk of drowsiness during the day.


CONCLUSIONS
An effective treatment for coughing therefore appears to be an absolute necessity, since this goes far beyond simple coughing discomfort itself.
Service de pneumologie, CHR de Metz, 28, rue XX-Corps-Américain, Metz, France.
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D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D003371:Cough / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013223:Statistics as Topic / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology