Risk factors of chronic cough in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Risk factors of chronic cough in China have not been systematically analyzed and we hypothesized that risk factors of chronic cough might have distinct characteristics in China. Hence, we performed this meta-analysis focusing on the potential risk factors of chronic cough in China.

Areas covered

This systematic review was performed to explore the risk factors of chronic cough in accordance with the PRISMA checklist. Seven databases were searched for published articles using predefined inclusion criteria. A total of 33 eligible articles were identified and included in this systematic review, and 28 studies were included in the meta-analysis.

Expert commentary

The study indicated that allergy, nasal/sinusitis diseases, family history of allergy, family history of chronic respiratory diseases, exposure to pollutants, passive smoking, and exposure to pets were risk factors for chronic cough in China. Although several potential risk factors (e.g.: sex and BMI) were not explore for the limited information in the included articles, this paper provides useful epidemiological information for managing chronic cough not only in China but around the world.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• cough
• chronic diseases
• meta-analysis
• risk factors

Article Highlights

• Only odds ratio with 95% confidence interval of risk factors mentioned in at least 5 studies would be used for Meta-analysis and presented with Forest plots. Otherwise, the results would be presented in manuscript descriptively.

• We compared sub-groups according to population (adults vs children), regions (southern China vs northern China), and category (ambient air pollutants vs occupational pollutants). A sensitivity analysis was also carried out to assess the major risk factors for the development of chronic cough in China comprehensively.

• Allergy, nasal/sinusitis diseases, family history of allergy, family history of chronic respiratory diseases, exposure to pollutants, passive smoking, and exposure to pets were major risk factors for the development of chronic cough in China.

• Our study indicated that both adults and children should pay more attention to allergy, nasal/sinusitis diseases, and exposure to pollutants in order to avoid chronic cough.

Abbreviations

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Declaration of Interests

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author contributions statement

Study concept and design: M. Jiang, K. Lai, H. Liang;

Acquisition of data: W. Ye, Z. Wang, J. Liang, F. Yi, X. Kong; Analysis and interpretation of data; statistical analysis: H. Liang, M. Jiang; Writing – original draft: H. Liang, H. Zhi, W. Ye; Writing – review & editing: All authors; Study supervision: M. Jiang, K. Lai, R. Chen; All authors reviewed and agreed on all versions of the article before submission and during revision. In addition, all authors had agreed on the journal to which the article will be submitted, and had full access to the data and taken responsibility for the integrity of the data and accuracy of the analysis.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed https://doi.org/10.1080/17476348.2022.2049759