Importance of atopic cough, cough variant asthma and sinobronchial syndrome as causes of chronic cough in the Hokuriku area of Japan

A prospective multicentre study was conducted to elucidate the causes of chronic cough in Japan.All consecutive and unselected patients complaining of cough lasting 8 weeks or more, who visited our clinics from 1 June to 31 December 2001, were registered. The causes of chronic cough were diagnosed based on the criteria for definite and probable causes of cough as recommended by the Japanese Cough Research Society.Of the 248 patients enrolled, 72...