Psychological factors in chronic idiopathic cough
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Systematic development of an intervention for chronic idiopathic cough: phase 1; Psychological factors in patients with chronic idiopathic cough; developing an understanding of patients perceptions and experiences of chronic cough.
IRAS ID
140448
Contact name
Sean Parker
Contact email
Research summary
Many people develop coughs where no obvious cause can be found, this can have a big effect of the persons general well being and quality of life and is costly to the NHS. Physical symptoms with no clear physical cause - often called medically unexplained symptoms or MUS – are surprisingly common. In other MUS, such as people with fatigue or with bowel problems, a lot of progress has been made in understanding and treating these conditions using an approach called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT works because it encourages the person to look at what they do about the symptom, what they believe about it and how it makes them feel. Other research has shown that people often get into “unhelpful behaviours” around physical symptoms. For instance people who are fatigued sometimes rest too much and become more tired, thus setting up a vicious circle. By understanding and changing the beliefs and behaviours associated with physical symptoms, it is possible to make a difference to the physical symptoms and to the quality of life of the person. Our goal is to see if this CBT approach can work in people with unexplained cough. We will do this by interviewing people who have it, to identify beliefs, behaviours and other factors that may be contributing to their condition. Once we know what factors may be contributing to their cough, we will then design a treatment to target some of these factors. We will design the treatment to be as simple as possible and to be delivered by people (speech therapists, respiratory nurses and physiotherapists) who see these patients on a daily basis. Trying out that treatment will be the next stage of our research. In the long run we hope we can continue to develop and try out this treatment and make a substantial difference to people’s lives.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/YH/0057
Date of REC Opinion
15 Apr 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion