ORIGINAL ARTICLE The experience of cough in patients diagnosed with lung cancer Alex Molassiotis & Matthew Lowe & Jacqueline Ellis & Richard Wagland & Chris Bailey & Mari Lloyd-Williams & Carol Tishelman & Jaclyn Smith Received: 22 July 2010 / Accepted: 11 November 2010 / Published online: 24 November 2010 # Springer-Verlag 2010 Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to explore the patient experience of cough in a population of patients with lung cancer. Methods A qualitative exploratory study design was devel- oped and elicited the views of 26 patients with lung cancer who had current or past experience with cough. Results The data's four themes highlight the complex and distressing nature of cough, including its interaction with other symptoms, such as breathlessness, fatigue and sleep disturbance. A theme around descriptions of cough sug- gests typically a dry tickly cough and highlights mechanical and environmental triggers for cough. The theme around the effects of cough in daily life shows the impact of cough in socialising, the embarrassment from cough and the psychological effects experienced by patients. The last theme focuses on strategies for coping with and managing cough, showing the perceived ineffectiveness of current antitussives and the patients' use of a variety of approaches on an ad hoc basis to try to manage their cough often unsuccessfully. Conclusion Cough has not received the same attention as other cancer symptoms, which means that patients' experi- ence of a distressing and difficult symptom is often unnoticed by health care professionals. More clinical and research attention in this debilitating symptom is necessary. Keywords Lung cancer . Cough . Qualitative design . Symptom management Introduction While there is no research focusing exclusively on the experience of cough in patients with lung cancer, studies conducted with chronic cough patients or those with other respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease suggest that cough is a distressing symptom with a significant impact on daily life [1, 2]. Kelsall et al. [3] recently found that chronic cough patients coughed an average 13.9 times/hour, with many coughing hundreds of times each day. A UK postal survey found that the majority of people reporting cough also reported being distressed, angry, anxious and depressed, with 64% report- ing that coughing interfered with their social life [4]. In a sample of 100 chronic cough patients, 53% scored as depressed, with improvement in cough associated with improvement in depression [5]. Numerous other effects of coughing, e.g. chest pains, rib fractures, hernia, stress A. Molassiotis (*) : M. Lowe School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Manchester, University Place, Block 3, Manchester M13 9PL, UK e-mail: alex.molassiotis@manchester.ac.uk J. Ellis : M. Lloyd-Williams Academic Palliative and Supportive Care Research Group, Division of Primary Care, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK R. Wagland : C. Bailey School of Health Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK C. Tishelman Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden J. Smith Department of Translational Medicine, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK Support Care Cancer (2011) 19:1997–2004 DOI 10.1007/s00520-010-1050-3