ABSTRACT
Cough is the most common presenting symptom to general practitioners
and has significant direct cost to the community (1). In the United States, approximately $2 billion per year is spent on cough and cold over-thecounter medications (2). A U.S. survey showed that 35% of preschool-aged children had used over-the-counter medications in the previous month for
cough (2). The additional cost to families of sleep disturbance and school
and work absenteeism should be considered (3). A recent study of children
aged 7-11 years showed a lifetime prevalence of bronchitis of 55.9% (4). Cough without wheeze has been reported at 12.8% in a longitudinal U.K. study (5) and that of recurrent cough without colds at 21.8% (6). In accepting that cough is a common problem in children it must be stated that pre-
valence data are generally gathered from epidemiologic studies and the true
incidence of cough, particularly chronic cough, in the pediatric population
is unknown.
