BTS GUIDELINES

Recommendations for the assessment and management of cough in children

M D Shields¹, A Bush², M L Everard³, S McKenzie⁴, R Primhak³ on behalf of the British Thoracic Society Cough Guideline Group

¹ Department of Child Health, Queen’s University of Belfast, Clinical Institute, Belfast, UK
² Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK
³ Department of Paediatrics, Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Sheffield, UK
⁴ Queen Elizabeth Children’s Services, The Royal London Hospital, London, UK

Dr M D Shields, Department of Child Health, Queen’s University of Belfast, Clinical Institute, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BJ, UK; m.shields@qub.ac.uk

Received 5 January 2007

Accepted 13 September 2007

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

INTRODUCTION

All children experience head colds and many consult their doctor because of associated coughing.¹ Cough with colds remedies are among the most commonly used medications in children in Western societies, despite evidence suggesting ineffectiveness of medication to treat cough as a symptom. The aetiology of coughing in children will cover a wide spectrum of respiratory disorders, and finding and treating the underlying cause is important.

Community-based surveys show that parental-reported cough as an isolated symptom has a high prevalence.^{2 3} Reported cough without colds has a prevalence of 28% in boys and 30% in girls.⁴

The recognised underdiagnosis of asthma led to the importance of cough as a symptom being stressed. However, there is increasing evidence that children are inappropriately treated for asthma based on cough as the sole symptom.^{5 6}

Coughing in children can be distressing and has a major impact on a child’s sleep, school performance and ability to play. . . . [Full text of this article]

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