Categories
Change Password!
Reset Password!
One in four pediatric patients presents with cough, with nonspecific and nonproductive cough dominating real-world clinical practice.
Cough remains one of the most common health concerns among children in India, affecting one in four pediatric patients, according to a recent real-world study analyzing over 2.25 million patient records.
The retrospective analysis of electronic medical records focused on children under 18 years and examined the clinical characteristics, prevalence, and types of cough in the pediatric population. Out of 2,251,735 patients, 575,284 children (25.55%) reported cough symptoms, highlighting a pronounced burden of respiratory illnesses among Indian children.
Among affected children, nonproductive (dry) cough was more common, reported in 8.28%, while productive (wet) cough was noted in 4.55%. The majority of cases (87.17%) were nonspecific coughs without a clearly identifiable cause, emphasizing the challenge of diagnosis in pediatric respiratory care.
General physicians (GPs) were the primary care providers for pediatric cough, seeing 31.47% (231,946) of affected children. Respiratory infections were the most frequent associated ailment, followed by asthma and bronchitis. Additionally, fever and cold were common complaints in both productive and nonproductive cough cases.
The study underscores the urgent requisition for targeted strategies to manage cough in children, improve early diagnosis, and address associated respiratory ailments like asthma. Experts suggest that understanding the prevalence and clinical patterns of pediatric cough in India is fundamental for developing valuable treatment protocols and minimizing the burden on primary healthcare systems.
Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences
Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Acute Cough in Indian Pediatric Population: Insights from Real-World Study
Surinder Kumar Jindal et al.
Comments (0)