title: Diurnal and seasonal variation of cough episodes in healthy young adults.
abstract: METHODS
  We developed an algorithm to assess recorded cough episodes and differentiate them from similar, non-cough sounds.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To measure cough episodes in healthy young adults, cigarette smokers and non-smokers over a 24-hour recording period, during the course of normal activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study subjects were students, aged 20-40 years old. 24-hour sound recordings were conducted by a portable recorder. Analysis used an algorithm that was developed and tested in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy students were recruited. Recordings included 2628 cough episodes in 1704 h of recording. The cough detection algorithm successfully detected 88.5% of recorded cough episodes and 95.6% of non-cough sounds. There was a clear tendency for more coughs among smokers. Autumn was the season with the highest mean cough episodes per day (58.65), while summer had the lowest (14.19). There was a strong correlation between self-reported cough episodes and recorded coughs. Cough episodes were significantly more frequent between noon and midnight (p < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a very large range in daily coughs among healthy young adults. During sleeping hours there are less cough episodes. In autumn and spring there are more cough episodes compared to summer and winter, probably secondary to environmental factors. In smokers, the coughing rate is relatively high. If the cough detection device will be able to discriminate between cough variants (i.e., healthy versus patient), and stringent validation will confirm sensitivity and specificity, valuable data from this device may ease the decision regarding medications, or any other changes in order to improve outcome.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biomedical Engineering , Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel .
authors.forename: Yaniv
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zigel
authors.affiliation: b Faculty of Health Sciences , Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel .|c Department of Pediatrics , Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer Sheva , Israel , and.
authors.forename: Aviv
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goldbart
authors.affiliation: b Faculty of Health Sciences , Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel .|d Faculty of Health Sciences , Siaal Research Center for Family Medicine and Primary Care, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Freud
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biomedical Engineering , Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel .
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erew
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biomedical Engineering , Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel .
authors.forename: Marwan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abu Leil
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biomedical Engineering , Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel .
authors.forename: Yaniv
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tocker
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biomedical Engineering , Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel .
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Levi
authors.affiliation: b Faculty of Health Sciences , Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel .|c Department of Pediatrics , Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer Sheva , Israel , and.|d Faculty of Health Sciences , Siaal Research Center for Family Medicine and Primary Care, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Urkin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D002980:Climate; D003371:Cough / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012621:Seasons; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013637:Tape Recording; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Cough; cough recording; healthy population; monitoring; temporal variation