Via practica 2/2021

Cough, diagnosis and treatment in a general practitioner’s office

There are only about 20 % patients with acute cough (ratio women : men – 2 : 1) that visit general practitioner for adults according to available literature. Most patients treat their acute cough individually, buying over-the-counter medicine (teas, drops, sirups). Patients also tend to use leftover drugs found in their households, or even expired drugs, which can result in their treatment being ineffective (1). In outpatient practice, we often see women visiting a doctor not because of the cough itself, but due to urinary incontinence as a secondary issue. The aim of this article is to elucidate the broad issue of cough, as a symptom in the general practitioner’s outpatient department for adults. The authors are dealing with the pathophysiology and classification of cough, diagnostic algorithms, and therapeutic procedures.

Keywords: outpatient practice, diagnostic algorithms, therapeutic procedures, general practitioner