PSYCHOGENIC COUGH TREATED WITH BIOFEEDBACK AND PSYCHOTHERAPY - A REVIEW AND CASE-REPORT

Psychogenic cough is a barking or honking cough, which is persistent a nd disruptive to normal activity. The cough may be a debilitating cond ition that interferes with work and social relationships. Although the frequency of this condition is low, it is not rare. The majority of c ases reported involve pediatric or adolescent patients. Surprisingly, there are scant data describing this condition in the adult population and no reports of biofeedback being used to treat this syndrome. We p resent a case report of an adult patient with psychogenic cough and re view the available pediatric and adult literature. A 41-yr-old obese f emale presented with a complex 7-yr history of intractable, nonproduct ive, chronic cough. She had been avoiding social activities because of embarrassment by her repeated episodes of coughing. Extensive diagnos tic work-up failed to find an organic etiology. Numerous medical and s urgical treatments had failed. The patient was treated with a combinat ion of biofeedback-assisted relaxation training, psychotherapy, and ph ysical therapy. Review of the literature revealed only one report on a dults, in which three of four patients were successfully treated with a combination of speech therapy, relaxation techniques, breathing exer cises, and psychotherapy. Our success suggests a possible future use o f this treatment protocol for cases of psychogenic cough.