Cough suppression therapy as a treatment for patients with cough following a respiratory illness

INTERVENTION: The cough suppression therapy involves advice regarding vocal hygiene particularly increasing hydration and reducing exposure to laryngeal irritants, avoid deliberate coughing and throat clearing using cough suppression strategies, reduce oral breathing to prevent irritation of the laryngeal mucosa, and reduce laryngeal strain if present. Patients will be given handouts of (1) vocal hygiene advice, and (2) the cough suppression exercises. Handouts will be developed for this study. Therapy will be delivered by a qualified speech pathologist delivered in a single 1 hour session. The mode of delivery will be face to face at the Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, Australia, but telehealth appointments will be considered for patients who are unable to travel to the appointment.Intervention adherence will be measured at each follow up session and include estimation of whether the patient has implemented the strategies, demonstration of the strategies and implementation of the strategies to interrupt cough episodes. Intervention fidelity will be assessed after every participant for the first five participants and then if satisfactory, after every 10 participants. CONDITION: Common cold;Infectious respiratory disease; ; Common cold ; Infectious respiratory disease Infection ‐ Other infectious diseases Respiratory ‐ Other respiratory disorders / diseases PRIMARY OUTCOME: Number of patients with significant cough. Significant cough is defined as cough severity of 40mm or more on a 100mm visual analogue scale.[26 weeks after randomisation] SECONDARY OUTCOME: Between group differences in change in cough quality of life measured with the Leicester Cough Questionnaire[Baseline, 8, 12 and 26 weeks post onset of cough] Between group differences in change in Vocal Cord Dysfunction Questionnaire scores[Baseline and 8, 12 and 26 weeks post onset of cough] Between group differences in cough severity visual analogue scale scores[Baseline, 8, 12 and 26 weeks post onset of cough] Laryngeal hypersensitivity questionnaire scores[Baseline and 8, 12 and 26 weeks post onset] INCLUSION CRITERIA: • 18 years of age or older. • Cough between 3 and 6 weeks duration following upper respiratory tract infection • Cough severity visual analogue scale>39mm • Non‐productive cough • Probable viral infection as defined by the Common Cold Questionnaire