916 Prevalence and Causes of Chronic Cough Among In-Patient Children in Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background: Chronic cough, defined as coughing for more than four weeks, is a common problem in childhood, but data about the causes are scarce. Aim: To determine the prevalence, distribution by duration and common causes of chronic cough in children. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the 9315 clinical records of pediatric patients aged 1 month to 18 years, hospitalized in Department of Pediatrics of Vilnius City University Hospital in 2007-2009. Children referred to the hospital with chronic cough were divided into 3 groups according to cough duration: 4 weeks (group 1), 5-8 weeks (group 2), and more than 9 weeks (group 3). Results: Chronic cough was found in 183 (1.964%) children, mean age 6.32; SD 4.801 [1.0-17.0]. 71 children referred to the hospital for cough, persisting for 4 weeks, 74 - for 5-8, 37 - for more than 9 weeks. The most often diagnosed diseases were protracted bronchitis (34.6%), bronchial asthma (26.3%), pneumonia (23.6%), and sinusitis (10.9%). Chronic cough was caused by more than one disease for 75.8% of children. There where no differences between children coughing for 4, 5-8, and more than 9 weeks: protracted bronchitis was diagnosed in 38.6%, 40.9% and 20.5%, bronchial asthma - 36.9%, 36.9% and 26.2%, sinusitis 38,9%, 38.9% and 22.1%, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic cough in pediatric setting was 1.96%. The most common causes of chronic cough were protracted bronchitis, bronchial asthma, pneumonia and sinusitis. There were no differences between cough duration and common causes of chronic cough in children.