Korean version of the Cough Symptom Score: clinical utility and validity for chronic cough

• Published in: The Korean journal of internal medicine Vol. 32; no. 5; pp. 910 - 915
• Main Authors: Jae-woo Kwon, Ji-yong Moon, Sae-hoon Kim, Woo-jung Song, Min-hye Kim, Min-gyu Kang, Kyung-hwan Lim, So-hee Lee, Sang Min Lee, Jin Young Lee, Hyouk-soo Kwon, Kyung-mook Kim, Sang-heon Kim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 대한내과학회 30.09.2017
• Subjects: Chronic disease; Cough; Korean version of the Cough Symptom Score; Surveys and questionnaires
• ISSN: 1226-3303; 2005-6648

Background/Aims: The Cough Symptom Score (CSS) is a simple, useful tool for measuring cough severity. However, there is no standard Korean version of the CSS. We developed a Korean version of the CSS and evaluated its clinical utility and validity for assessing chronic cough severity. Methods: The CSS was adapted for Korean use following a forward-backward translation procedure. Patients with chronic cough enrolled from five university hospitals were graded using the CSS and a 100-mm linear visual analog scale (VAS) of cough severity at each visit. Patients completed the Leicester Cough Ques-tionnaire (LCQ) upon presentation and completed the LCQ and Global Rating of Change at follow-up visits after 2 to 4 weeks. The concurrent validity, repeatabili-ty, and responsiveness of the Korean version of the CSS were determined. Results: Correlation coefficients between the CSS and LCQ, and between the CSS and VAS, were -0.66 and 0.52, respectively. There was a weak correlation between the scores for night and day symptoms (r = 0.24, p = 0.0006). The repeatability of the CSS in patients with no change in cough (n = 23) was high (intra-class cor-relation coefficient, 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.51 to 0.88). Patients who reported an improvement in cough (n = 30) at follow-up visits had a significant improvement in the CSS (median, -2; 95% CI, -3 to -1; p = 0.0003). Conclusions: The Korean version of the CSS correlated well with other tools for accessing cough severity in chronic cough patients. Therefore, it could be a reli-able method for measuring chronic cough severity.