Abstract
IntroductionCough is a common symptom for which patients seek medical care and is defined as chronic if it has lasted for more than 8 weeks. The Hull Airway Reflux Questionnaire (HARQ) was developed with the aim of eliciting the major component of chronic cough. It comprises 14 items with a maximum total score of 70. A Swedish version (HARQ-S) has previously been developed but not yet formally validated. The aim of the present study was to validate the HARQ-S in terms of instrumental reliability and concurrent validity.MethodsA total of 67 consecutively selected non-smoking patients with chronic cough and 91 non-smoking allegedly healthy controls were asked to answer two questionnaires, the HARQ-S and a local questionnaire, at two occasions about 3 weeks apart.ResultsThe HARQ-S showed good psychometric properties. The patients had significantly higher total scores (p < 0.001) compared to the controls, and the questionnaire showed outstanding discrimination ability to distinguish between patients and controls, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.99. Fifty patients and 77 controls completed the HARQ-S twice, showing good test–retest agreement in all items as well as in the total scores in both groups, and without any significant differences over time.ConclusionThe Swedish version of the HARQ is a valid and reliable questionnaire with good agreement between the two measurements in both patients and controls. The HARQ-S has good reliability and validity and can be used as a diagnostic tool in Swedish-speaking patients with chronic cough.
Highlights
Introduction Cough is a common symptom for which patients seek medical care and is defined as chronic if it has lasted for more than 8 weeks
The patients with chronic cough had significantly higher total scores compared to the control group, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed outstanding discrimination ability to distinguish between patients with chronic cough and controls
The internal consistency reliability, expressed as Cronbach’s coefficient a, reflecting the Hull Airway Reflux Questionnaire (HARQ)’s ability to indicate the extent to which items are related, was high in the patient group (0.82) but lower in the control group (0.64). This is in line with the study by Morice et al showing a Cronbach’s a coefficient of 0.81 in patients with chronic cough [5]
Summary
Cough is a common symptom for which patients seek medical care and is defined as chronic if it has lasted for more than 8 weeks. The Hull Airway Reflux Questionnaire (HARQ) was developed with the aim of eliciting the major component of chronic cough. It comprises 14 items with a maximum total score of 70. The Hull Airway Reflux Questionnaire (HARQ) was developed in the UK, from the Reflux Symptom Index [4], with the aim of eliciting the major components of chronic cough. The English version of the HARQ is validated and has good psychometric properties, internal consistency, and test–retest repeatability. It has a high sensitivity and specificity with a very striking receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and is responsive to treatment [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
