Basic assessment of chronic cough in primary care and referral pathways of patients to different specialists
Domingo, Christian (Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari. Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí (I3PT))
Gonzálvez, Jaime (Centro de Salud Teis)
Dávila, Ignacio (Hospital Clínico Universitario (Salamanca))
del Cuvillo, Alfonso (Hospital Universitario de Jerez (Jerez de la Frontera))
Sánchez-Jareño, Marta (Medical Affairs, MSD, Madrid)
Cea-Calvo, Luis (Medical Affairs, MSD, Madrid)
Naberán, Karlos (Respiratory Diseases Working Group of Primary Care (GRAP))
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina

Date:	2023
Abstract:	Chronic cough (CC; cough that lasts 8 weeks or longer) poses major effective assessment challenges. Assessment of CC may vary considerably among medical specialists. The aim was to evaluate similarities and consistency of responses across different specialists when performing a basic assessment of CC patients in primary care, and referring patients based on clinical findings or test results. A modified Delphi approach was used. A survey with 74 statements on initial assessment of CC and referral pathways was addressed to a panel of different specialists, who voted the statements in two rounds. Seventy-seven physicians [18 primary care physicians (PCPs), 24 pulmonologists, 22 allergists, and 13 ear, nose, and throat specialists] from the National Healthcare System of Spain answered the questionnaire. After two rounds, the panel reached a consensus on 63 out of the 74 proposed items (85. 1%). Consensus was not reached among the panelists of at least one specialty on 15 out of these 63 agreed items. The panel agreed on those clinical aspects that should be evaluated by PCPs in all patients with CC including the impact of CC on quality of life. Agreement was reached on initial actions to be taken in primary care, including substitution of drugs that may induce cough, performing a chest X-ray, introduction of anti-reflux measures, initiation of empirical anti-reflux pharmacological therapy in some cases, and performing a spirometry with bronchodilator test and hemogram if an etiological diagnosis was not reached. The panelists agreed on a list of diseases that PCPs should assess before referring CC patients. Algorithms were developed for initial assessment and targeted referral of patients with CC from primary care. This study provides the perspective of different medical specialists on how to perform a basic assessment of CC patients in primary care and how and when to refer patients to other specialists.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Cough ; Delphi technique ; Diagnosis ; Differential ; Interdisciplinary communication ; Primary health care ; Referral and consultation ; Symptom assessment
Published in:	Therapeutic Advances in Respiratory Disease, Vol. 17 (June 2023) , ISSN 1753-4666

DOI: 10.1177/17534666231178694
PMID: 37341099

16 p, 723.7 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles