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Abstract

People with chronic cough (a cough lasting more than 8 weeks) are often referred to different specialists and undergo numerous diagnostic tests, but clear guidance is lacking. This work summarizes a consensus (an agreement) among medical specialists who are involved in managing people with chronic cough: primary care physicians (family doctors), pulmonologists (doctors who specialize in lung conditions), allergists (medical professionals specializing in allergies) and ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists. They discussed how to perform a basic assessment of people with chronic cough in primary care (day-to-day healthcare given by a general practitioner or family doctor) and how to refer them to different specialists based on clinical findings or test results.

Keywords

cough Delphi technique diagnosis differential primary health care interdisciplinary communication referral and consultation symptom assessment

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Pablo Rivas helped the authors write this PLSP on behalf of Content Ed Net. The present study was reviewed and endorsed by the following scientific societies (in alphabetical order): Grupo de Respiratorio en Atención Primaria (GRAP, Spanish Respiratory Group of Primary Care), Sociedad Española de Alergología e Inmunología Clínica (SEAIC, Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology), Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica (SEPAR, Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery) and Sociedad Española de Otorrinolaringología (SEORL, Spanish Society of Otorhinolaryngology). The authors are grateful to all the participating panelists, who voted on the statements. The complete list can be consulted in the original publication.

Basic assessment of chronic cough in primary care and referral pathways of patients to different specialists: plain language summary of publication

Abstract

Keywords

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Acknowledgements

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