25 May 2004
University Professor wins award for research into coughs
University of Dundee's Professor Tom Fahey is one of a team of four authors who have won recognition for
their study of children into the expected length of time a cough lasts, from its beginning until it has
completely cleared up. The results show that parents often underestimate the length of time they think their
child's cough will last. The study will be announced as the RCGP/Boots the Chemists Research Paper of the
Year Award winner on 25 May.
Coughs are extremely common in pre-school children and generate considerable parental anxiety. The winning
study aimed to discover the duration of coughs in children, compare this with clinical and parental
prediction of cough duration and determine the clinical factors associated with prolonged coughs.
Parents and clinicians were asked to predict the complete duration of coughs in children. Parents were also
asked to keep a diary recording the severity of the cough, shortness of breath, sleeplessness and activity
levels throughout each day until the cough had resolved.
The study of 256 children showed that parents can accurately predict the duration of their child's cough for
the first two weeks but tended to underestimate the proportion who recovered between two and four weeks.
However, clinicians consistently overestimated the proportion of children recovering across all time periods
compared with the actual cough duration.
The findings from this study are significant, say the authors, and have a number of different uses. First,
to reassure parents that prolonged symptoms are common and not necessarily a marker of serious disease.
Secondly, giving parents a realistic expectation of cough duration at the outset and finally, for health
professionals who are negotiating the use of antibiotics, specific information about the natural history may
enable parental self-care, reduce use of medicines and displace the need to prescribe.
The reviewing panel agreed that pharmacists, practice nurses and health visitors would use its findings as
well as GPs and patients.
Notes for Editors
The RCGP/Boots The Chemists Research Paper of the Year Award was set up in 1996 by the College's Research
Group with sponsorship from Boots The Chemists. It is designed to raise the profile of research in general
practice and give recognition to an individual or group of researchers who have undertaken and published an
exceptional piece of research relating to general practice.
Hay A, Wilson A, Fahey T and Peters T - "The duration of acute cough in pre-school children presenting to
primary care: a prospective cohort study". Family Practice 20; 6: 696-704.
Charles-Jones H, Latimer J and May C - "Transforming general practice: the redistribution of medical work in
primary care". Sociology of Health & Illness 24; 1: 71-92.
For further information please contact the Press Office on 01382 344768
By Angela Durcan, Press Officer 01382 344768, out of hours: 07968298585, a.durcan@dundee.ac.uk | 
