Recruiting

Cough Control Therapy

Sponsor:

West Park Healthcare Centre

Code:

NCT04767074

Conditions

Cough

ILD

Pulmonary Disease

Pulmonary Fibrosis

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Non-pharmacological Cough control Therapy

Study Details

Brief summary:

Coughing affects almost all individuals with ILD leading to physical, psychological and social distress and prevents individuals from performing their activities of daily living, working or socialising in public places. Unfortunately, there are no licensed medications available to treat chronic cough and the few drugs that have been tried resulted in little efficacy and significant side effects. Drug-free cough control interventions have shown promise in reducing the severity and impact of coughing on patients' lives but have not been tested in individuals with ILD. This study aims to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of a non-pharmacological cough control therapy, as an adjuvant of pulmonary rehabilitation, in patients with ILD and chronic cough (>8 weeks in duration).

Conditions

Cough

ILD

Pulmonary Disease

Pulmonary Fibrosis

Study ID

NCT04767074

Start date

Sep 1, 2020

Status verified date

Mar, 2025

Completion date

Dec, 2025

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec, 2025

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals will be included if having confirmed diagnosis of any ILD by a physician (as per Canadian Thoracic Society's guideline for evaluating patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease) and a chronic cough lasting more than 8 weeks in duration

Exclusion Criteria:

  • self-reports of moderate or large sputum production
  • effective or suspected exacerbation of the respiratory condition in the past month
  • upper respiratory tract infection in the past month
  • use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor medication
  • changes in the prescribed medication in the previous month
  • evidence of traction bronchiectasis in the HRCT
  • evidence of other medical conditions that prevent performance of an exercise training program
  • unable to read or speak in English / unable to provide informed consent.

Study Design

Enrollment

24 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Non-pharmacological Cough control therapy

Participants will attend four virtual sessions of 45 to 60 minutes of educational and self-management. Sessions will be designed to target participants' needs and expectations according to the semi-structured theme.

Session 1 General assessment Prescription of cough technique

Session 2 Cough principles of cough Cough control

Session 3 Breathing pattern retraining and laryngeal hygiene

Session 4 Reinforcement of cough control therapies

Interventions

Non-pharmacological Cough control Therapy

Participants will attend four virtual sessions of 45 to 60 minutes of educational and self-management.

Session 1 General assessment Prescription and taught of one cough suppression technique.

Session 2 Cough principles: mechanism, cough reflex, chronic cough, the importance of cough and negative effects of repeated coughing.

Cough control: identify triggers, use cough suppressions and distractions techniques.

Session 3 Breathing pattern retraining and laryngeal hygiene: reinforce nasal breathing and pursed lips breathing as strategies to avoid the urge to cough, identification of risk factors for laryngeal dehydration and hydration education.

Session 4 Reinforcement: Clarification of doubts, techniques' reinforcement and application during daily life situations.

Primary outcome measure

  • Feasibility of intervention [ Time Frame: through study completion, average 1 year ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Ana Oliveira, PhD

6477651525ana.oliveira@westpark.org

Locations

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Recruiting

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Contacts

Ana Oliveira, PhD

ana.oliveira@westpark.org

Dina Brooks, PhD

4165058953brookd8@mcmaster.ca

West Park Healthcare Centre

Recruiting

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6M 2J5

Contacts

Ana Oliveria, PhD

6477651525ana.oliveira@westpark.org

Shirley Quach

Shirley.Quach@westpark.org

More Information

Sponsor

West Park Healthcare Centre

Last update posted

Apr 3, 2025

Last verified

Mar, 2025

Keywords

  • Cough
  • ILD
  • Pulmonary rehabilitation
  • chronic cough
  • non-pharmacological cough therapy

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by West Park Healthcare Centre on 2025-04-03.