Lee Sang Pyo, Kang Sung-Yoon
Division of Pulmonology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Asia Pac Allergy. 2025 Sep;15(3):186-191. doi: 10.5415/apallergy.0000000000000188. Epub 2025 Mar 17.
Cough is one of the multiple prolonged symptoms observed in patients who had coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection.
We assessed the clinical outcomes and identified factors contributing to cough persistence in patients post-COVID-19.
This retrospective cohort study included adults who visited a specialist cough clinic between 2022 and 2023. All participants underwent systematic investigation and treatment for persistent cough. Cough persistence was assessed at the 2- and 12-month follow-ups. Participants were classified as having persistent cough if they had a current troublesome cough at the 2- and 12-month follow-ups, and a cough severity visual analog scale (VAS) score change below 30.
Sixty-six patients (mean age 48.7 years; 72.7% women) were analyzed and divided into 2 groups: persistent cough (33.3%) and remitted cough (66.7%). The persistent cough group had a significantly higher prevalence of abnormal laryngeal sensation, sputum production, breathing difficulty, and airway eosinophilia; their VAS score changes at 2 months were also lower. Multivariable analyses indicated associations between persistent cough at 1 year and factors such as airway eosinophilia (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 6.78), abnormal laryngeal sensation (aOR, 6.42), and low cough VAS reduction (aOR, 1.05).
Persistent cough remained a significant issue for one-third of the patients after COVID-19. The clinical features commonly observed in chronic cough were also present in those who have experienced COVID-19, which contributed to prolonged cough. These findings underscore the need for systematic assessment and tailored treatment strategies to effectively manage persistent cough in patients post-COVID-19.
咳嗽是2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）感染患者出现的多种持续症状之一。
我们评估了COVID-19后患者的临床结局，并确定了导致咳嗽持续的因素。
这项回顾性队列研究纳入了2022年至2023年间前往专科咳嗽诊所就诊的成年人。所有参与者均接受了针对持续性咳嗽的系统检查和治疗。在2个月和12个月的随访中评估咳嗽持续情况。如果参与者在2个月和12个月的随访中有当前令人烦恼的咳嗽，且咳嗽严重程度视觉模拟量表（VAS）评分变化低于30，则被分类为持续性咳嗽。
对66例患者（平均年龄48.7岁；72.7%为女性）进行了分析，并分为两组：持续性咳嗽组（33.3%）和缓解性咳嗽组（66.7%）。持续性咳嗽组喉感觉异常、咳痰、呼吸困难和气道嗜酸性粒细胞增多的患病率显著更高；他们在2个月时的VAS评分变化也更低。多变量分析表明，1年时的持续性咳嗽与气道嗜酸性粒细胞增多（调整优势比[aOR]，6.78）、喉感觉异常（aOR，6.42）和咳嗽VAS降低幅度低（aOR，1.05）等因素有关。
对于三分之一的COVID-19后患者来说，持续性咳嗽仍然是一个重要问题。慢性咳嗽中常见的临床特征在经历过COVID-19的患者中也存在，这导致了咳嗽持续时间延长。这些发现强调了需要进行系统评估和量身定制的治疗策略，以有效管理COVID-19后患者的持续性咳嗽。
