Clinical impact and healthcare resource utilisation in patients with unexplained or refractory chronic cough: a French national population study

Laurent Guilleminault (), Gaëlle Le Moine, Fabrice Ruiz, Abdelkrim Ziad, Marcel Goldberg, Marie Zins and Nicolas Roche
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Laurent Guilleminault: Infinity - Institut Toulousain des Maladies Infectieuses et Inflammatoires - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EPE UT - Université de Toulouse - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse, UTPS - Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier - Faculté de médecine Purpan - EPE UT - Université de Toulouse - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse
Gaëlle Le Moine: MSD France
Fabrice Ruiz: ClinSearch [Malakoff, France]
Abdelkrim Ziad: ClinSearch [Malakoff, France]
Marcel Goldberg: CONSTANCES - Cohortes épidémiologiques en population - UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - Université Paris-Saclay - UPCité - Université Paris Cité
Marie Zins: CONSTANCES - Cohortes épidémiologiques en population - UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - Université Paris-Saclay - UPCité - Université Paris Cité
Nicolas Roche: Hôpital Cochin [AP-HP] - AP-HP - Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), IC UM3 (UMR 8104 / U1016) - Institut Cochin - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UPCité - Université Paris Cité

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Abstract: Background: The epidemiological, clinical and medico-economic burden of unexplained or refractory chronic cough (URCC) is poorly known. Objective: To describe sociodemographic characteristics, clinical impact, healthcare resource utilisation and associated costs in French patients with URCC. Methods: Populations of interest (chronic cough, URCC, controls) were identified from the general population-based Constances cohort (124 565 participants at the time of study inception) and invited to answer a specific ad hoc questionnaire on cough. Their healthcare resource utilisation data were extracted from the National Healthcare Database System. Results: Populations of interest were identified among participants for whom data and questionnaire responses were available (n=5277): URCC (n=116), non-URCC (n=1357) and no chronic cough (reference group; n=3804). The extrapolated frequencies of chronic cough and URCC in the Constances cohort were 3.8% and 0.22%, respectively. URCC was mainly associated with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (31.0%) and asthma/COPD (18.3%). Depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale score ≥16) were significantly more frequent in patients with URCC than in controls (43.0% versus 24.0%, p=0.0036). Over the previous 12 months, the mean number of medical visits was higher in the URCC group than in controls (9.1 versus 6.0, p=0.0002). Treatment for underlying conditions of interest were also more frequent in the URCC group. Compared to controls, a 36% increase in medical visits and a four times increase in treatments of underlying conditions of interest were observed in the URCC group. Conclusions: URCC is associated with an important clinical impact and high healthcare resource utilisation and associated costs. The burden of URCC is significant and remains an unmet medical need.

Date: 2026-03-11
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Published in ERJ Open Research, 2026, 12 (2), pp.00964-2025. ⟨10.1183/23120541.00964-2025].⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05625500

DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00964-2025].

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