Cough monitoring systems are increasingly being used as primary end-points in clinical trials. In addition to clinical use, there is a certain need for objective assessment of symptoms in the context of bronchitis therapy, e.g., to evaluate antitussive treatments. Consequently, there is a necessity for objective assessment technologies like automated cough and wheezing monitoring. Manual counting of cough and wheezing over a number of hours, however, is not feasible for a large number of patients. Assessment of respiratory symptoms like cough and wheezing so far is mostly subjective and based on qualitative description of the symptoms by the patient or a parent. Within the framework of evidence-based medicine, health authorities increasingly demand proof of effectiveness of cough-related therapy, and there is still an on-going debate in the scientific community how to objectively assess the putative clinical benefit of antitussive treatments in children. Due to this nature, “acute bronchitis” is hence primarily a clinical diagnosis with a strong emphasis on the present history and the physical examination. Important criteria for the classification as “mere bronchitis” are absence of (i) evidence of pneumonia and (ii) chronic, recurrent symptoms. In many cases, acute bronchial obstruction is part of the clinical picture, causing an expiratory wheezing which can be recognized by bare ear or auscultation by physical examination. Īcute bronchitis is an inflammation of the lower airways, most frequently due to viral infection, leading to enhanced mucus production and coughing. Cough is a very frequent symptom associated with respiratory tract infection, and it might deeply affect the quality of life of both children and parents. Symptoms include cough, wheezing, fever, headache, and a general feeling of sickness. In children, acute bronchitis usually is triggered by viral infection. Symptoms of airway infections sometimes persist for more than 10 days and cough often lasts up to 3 weeks. More than one-third of children with acute bronchitis are presented to a general practitioner or primary care pediatrician, bearing a great clinical and health economical relevance. Infections of the bronchial system occur frequently, particularly in children and adolescents. To assess putative effects of pharmacotherapy on nocturnal bronchitis symptoms, future studies in more homogeneous patient groups are needed. All subjective parameters (BSS, Cough log and PAC-QoL) were found to be significantly correlated with the objectively assessed cough parameters.Ĭonclusion: Long-term recording of cough and wheezing offers a useful opportunity to objectively evaluate the time course of respiratory symptoms in children with acute bronchitis. Twenty-two patients had concomitant wheezing, which declined within the observation period as well. Additionally, parents completed symptom logs, i.e., the Bronchitis Severity Score (BSS), as well as the Parent-proxy Children’s Acute Cough-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAC-QoL). In 36 children (2–8 years), the frequency of nocturnal cough and wheezing was recorded during three nights by automated lung sound monitoring. The impact of nocturnal cough on parent’s quality of life was assessed as secondary outcome. The main objective of this study was to objectively determine the time course of cough and wheezing in children with acute bronchitis. Hitherto, the evaluation of respiratory symptoms was limited to subjective methods such as questionnaires. Cough and wheezing are the predominant symptoms of acute bronchitis.
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