The Assessment of Cough in a Sarcoidosis Clinic Using a Validated instrument and a Visual Analog Scale

Purpose Cough is a common symptom of pulmonary sarcoidosis. We analyzed the severity of cough and factors associated with cough in a university sarcoidosis clinic cohort. Methods Consecutive patients completed the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) and a cough visual analog scale (VAS). Clinical and demographic data were collected. Means of the LCQ were analyzed in patients who had multiple visits in terms of constant variables (e.g., race, sex). Results 355 patients completed the LCQ and VAS at 874 visits. Cough was significantly worse in blacks than whites as determined by the LCQ-mean (16.5 ± 2.6 vs. 17.8 ± 3.0, p