Nighttime Cough Characteristics in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients

den Brinker, Albertus C.; Ouweltjes, Okke; Rietman, Ronald; Thackray-Nocera, Susannah; Crooks, Michael G.; Morice, Alyn H.

Abstract

Coughing is a symptom of many respiratory diseases. An increased amount of coughs may signal an (upcoming) health issue, while a decreasing amount of coughs may indicate an improved health status. The presence of a cough can be identified by a cough classifier. The cough density fluctuates considerably over the course of a day with a pattern that is highly subject-dependent. This paper provides a case study of cough patterns from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients as determined by a stationary semi-automated cough monitor. It clearly demonstrates the variability of cough density over the observation time, its patient specificity and dependence on health status. Furthermore, an earlier established empirical finding of a linear relation between mean and standard deviation of a session’s cough count is validated. An alert mechanism incorporating these findings is described.

Citation

den Brinker, A. C., Ouweltjes, O., Rietman, R., Thackray-Nocera, S., Crooks, M. G., & Morice, A. H. (2025). Nighttime Cough Characteristics in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients. Sensors, 25(2), Article 404. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25020404

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 8, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Jan 11, 2025
• Publication Date: Jan 2, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 8, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 10, 2025
• Journal: Sensors
• Print ISSN: 1424-8220
• Electronic ISSN: 1424-8220
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 2
• Article Number: 404
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s25020404
• Keywords: COPD; Cough; Acute exacerbation; Alert
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/5038975