Assessing Quality of Life in Acute Cough with the Leicester Cough Questionnaire
Author Information
Author(s): Yousaf Nadia, Lee Kai K, Jayaraman Bhagyashree, Pavord Ian D, Birring Surinder S
Primary Institution: Institute for lung health, Department of Respiratory medicine, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK
Hypothesis
Can the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) be validated for assessing health-related quality of life in patients with acute cough?
Conclusion
The LCQ-acute is a valid and responsive tool for assessing cough-specific health-related quality of life in patients with acute cough.
Supporting Evidence
- Health status was severely impaired at baseline with a median total LCQ-acute score of 13.0.
- All subjects found the LCQ-acute questionnaire acceptable for assessing their cough.
- The internal reliability of the LCQ-acute was good with Cronbach's α coefficients >0.9.
- There was a significant correlation between LCQ-acute and VAS (ρ = -0.48, p = 0.007).
- The MID for total LCQ and VAS were 2.5 and 13 mm respectively.
- QOL improved between visits 1 and 2; median LCQ score increased from 12.8 to 16.7.
Takeaway
This study shows that a questionnaire can help doctors understand how a bad cough affects people's lives, making it easier to treat them.
Methodology
30 subjects with acute cough completed the LCQ-acute and a cough visual analogue score at multiple time points to assess validity and responsiveness.
Potential Biases
The GRCQ is subjective and may be subject to recall bias.
Limitations
The study could not determine the repeatability of the LCQ-acute due to most patients reporting improvement in cough severity.
Participant Demographics
30 subjects (10 men, mean age 32 years) with acute cough due to upper respiratory tract infection.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.007
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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