Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis.  2012 Dec;22(4):344-353.

Validity of Cough-Holter Monitoring for the Objective Assessment of Cough and Wheezing in Children with Respiratory Symptoms

• Park HN
• Jang WN
• Nam HK
• Kang IS
• Seo SC
• Bauer S
• Choi IS
• Choung JT
• Yoo Y

Abstract

PURPOSE
Cough and wheezing are the most common respiratory symptoms in children. Recently, the cough-holter monitoring has been used to estimate the frequency and intensity of cough and wheezing, objectively. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the validity of cough-holter monitoring for the objective assessment of cough and wheezing in the hospitalized children with respiratory symptoms.
METHODS
Cough-holter monitoring was performed in 59 children who suffered from cough and/or wheezing. We obtained the information on the frequency and intensity of cough and wheezing from the parents, a pediatrician, and cough-holter monitoring. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores were taken by parents, and the pediatrician estimated the wheezing score by using a stethoscope. We assessed a relationship between the VAS scores, wheezing score, and cough-holter monitoring data.
RESULTS
The frequencies and intensities of cough correlated positively with the VAS scores (r=0.301, P=0.032; and r=0.540, P=0.001, respectively) and the frequencies and intensities of wheezing also correlated positively with the Wheezing scores. (r=0.335, P=0.011; and r=0.457, P=0.001, respectively) The wheezing intensity did not correlate with the Wheezing score in wheezing children. (r=0.321, P=0.089)
CONCLUSION
Cough-holter monitoring correlated positively with the VAS scores and the wheezing scores. Cough-holter monitoring appears to be a useful objective assessment tool for the children who have suffered from cough and/or wheezing.

Keyword

Children; Cough; Cough-holter; VAS score; Wheezing

MeSH Terms

Child
Child, Hospitalized
Cough
Humans
Parents
Respiratory Sounds
Stethoscopes

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Correlations between Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores and cough event counts (CEC) (A) and the highest cough component counts per cough event count (CCC/CEC [H]) (B) in total subjects (n=59).

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  Fig. 2 Correlations between Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores and cough event counts (CEC) (A) and the highest cough component counts per cough event count (CCC/CEC [H]) (B) in wheezing subjects.

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  Fig. 3 Correlations between Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores and cough event counts (CEC) (A) and the highest cough component counts per cough event count (CCC/CEC [H]) (B) in nonwheezing subjects.

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  Fig. 4 Correlations between wheezing scores and number of segment with wheezing (WZ [TR, N]) (A) and the highest total wheezing% (WZ [TR, H]) (B) in total subjects.

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  Fig. 5 Correlations between wheezing scores and number of segment with wheezing (WZ [TR, N]) (A) and the highest total wheezing% (WZ [TR, H]) (B) in wheezing subjects.

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