Pattern of drug abuse in patients with psychogenic cough

Abstract

Objectives: The present study was conduced with aims to find out the pattern of symptoms and drug
abuse in patients suffering from psychogenic cough.
Design: A cross sectional descriptive study
Place and duration of study: A tertiary care teaching hospital
Subjects and methods: In the present study, a series of thirty two cases of psychogenic cough is
reported.
Results: Of 32 cases, there were 19 females (59.4%) and 13 males (40.6%). A majority of patients had
cough for more than one month. School phobia (in children) and fear of rejection and need for attention
were the commonest precipitating or perpetuating factors. Seventeen patients (53.1%) had a psychiatric
disorder, the commonest being conversion disorder (21.9%) followed by mixed anxiety and depressive
disorder (12.5%). Drug therapy and/or psychotherapy were used as treatment with, 12 cases (37.5%)
showing remission, 16 cases (50.0%) having improvement and 4 cases (12.5%) continuing with the
complaint.
Conclusion: Psychogenic cough needs timely recognition and appropriate treatment to avoid drug abuse.
Further studies are warranted to study the treatment and outcome of this important psychiatric disorder.
Key words: Psychogenic cough, Symptoms, Comorbidity, Drug abuse