Objective Using a simple management strategy to investigate the etiologic spectrum of chronic cough in Chengdu city and its suburbs. Methods Chronic cough patients were randomly recruited fromthe outpatient clinic of Sichuan Provincial People ’s Hospital between July 2011 to May 2012. A conception of “Chronic Airway Inflammatory Cough Syndrome, CAICS”was established including several common causes of cough such as cough variant asthma ( CVA) , eosinophilic bronchitis ( EB) , atopic cough ( AC) , and atypical chronic bronchitis. Based on CAICS, a simplified suspected diagnosis procedure of chronic cough was conducted. Patients were empirically treated. Etiology and efficiency of chronic cough was analyzed. Results A total of 148 patients of chronic cough were recruited. The mean age was ( 43. 0 ±13. 0) years old. There were 72 male and 76 female patients with mean ages of ( 39. 7 ±10. 7) and ( 45. 0 ± 14. 2) years old respectively. The males were younger than the females ( P lt; 0. 05) . There was 96. 6% ( 143/148) of patients suspectedly diagnosed and 3.4% ( 5/148) patients were undiagnosed. The suspected causes of these chronic cough patients were as follows, ie. CAICS ( 57. 5% ) , upper airway cough syndrome ( UACS, 21. 5%) , gastroesophageal reflux cough ( GERC, 9. 1% ) , and others ( 8. 4% ) . A single possible cause was found in 95 patients ( 64.1% ) , two possible causes in 41 patients ( 27. 7% ) , and three possible causes in 3 patients( 2. 0% ) . 12.2% of chronic cough patients were combined with allergic rhinitis ( AR) . Among the diseases, CVA, CAICS and UACS were disposed to coexist with AR. The overall efficiency of empiric management strategy of chronic cough was 83. 7% .Conclusions The etiological spectrum of chronic cough in Chengdu acquired by this strategy was generally consistent with previous findings in China.The three most important causes of chronic cough in Chengdu were CAICS, UACS and GERC. This strategy was simple, effective, economic and feasible. It could be a primary management for chronic cough in some hospital.
