Concept and use of the guidelines

Cough is one of the most frequent complaints for which patients seek medical care throughout the world.1 The exact prevalence of cough in Japan is unknown, but in the UK, 10–15% of the entire population have a daily cough,2 and in the USA, over 100 million dollars are spent each year on treatment of cough.3 The aetiology of cough ranges from the self-resolving common cold to life-threatening cardiac disease and lung cancer. Even if the...