TY - JOUR T1 - The global epidemiology of chronic cough in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1479 LP - 1481 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00218714 VL - 45 IS - 5 AU - Woo-Jung Song AU - Yoon-Seok Chang AU - Shoaib Faruqi AU - Ju-Young Kim AU - Min-Gyu Kang AU - Sujeong Kim AU - Eun-Jung Jo AU - Min-Hye Kim AU - Jana Plevkova AU - Heung-Woo Park AU - Sang-Heon Cho AU - Alyn H. Morice Y1 - 2015/05/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/45/5/1479.abstract N2 - Cough is an essential defence mechanism [1]. However, chronic cough is a significant cause of morbidity, seriously impairing quality of life [2]. Previously, chronic cough was considered a consequence of various diseases, such as asthma/eosinophilic bronchitis, rhinitis and gastro-oesophageal acid reflux disease [3, 4]. Recent evidence, however, suggests that chronic cough is a clinical syndrome with distinct intrinsic pathophysiology characterised by neuronal hypersensitivity [5–7]. Here, we estimated the worldwide epidemiological burden of chronic cough irrespective of putative diagnosis in general adult populations using a comprehensive systematic literature review. Chronic cough has a high global epidemiological burden. A standard definition would facilitate further studies. http://ow.ly/HPCnw We gratefully acknowledge the help of GlaxoSmithKline (UK) in providing data translation assistance. We also wish to acknowledge the statistical advice from Soyeon Ahn (Division of Statistics, Medical Research Collaborating Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea). ER -