National survey of physiotherapy and speech and language therapists’ practice for patients with chronic cough in England: Assessment

Abstract

Background: Physiotherapists (PT) and Speech and language therapists (SLT) are involved in the assessment and treatment of chronic cough (CC). There are clear guidelines for the assessment of chronic cough in clinical trials but they do not suggest what assessments should be used in clinical practice. Aim: This study aimed to identify which assessments are being used clinically by PT and SLT for CC patients. Methods: 119 NHS Foundation Trusts where treatment for CC was likely to be provided by PT and/or SLT were identified. 638 (318 SLT and 320 PT) surveys were sent to the respective leads for PT and SLT within these trusts. Results: Seventy nine surveys (13%) were returned (3 were excluded as they did not see CC patients). Of the 76 surveys, 41 were from SLT and 35 were from PT. The majority of therapists reported seeing chronic cough patients ≤5 times a month (n=42, 55%). SLT appear to use more assessments than PT. Breathing pattern assessment (n=52) was the most commonly used assessment (figure 1). Laryngoscopy and voice analysis assessment were exclusively used by SLT. Less than 50% of therapists reported using cough specific outcome measures. Conclusion: This data suggests a serious lack of consistency in the evaluation of CC patients for non-pharmacological interventions and the need for more guidance/guidelines to improve this.