PSYCHOGENIC COUGH IN CHILDREN - A LITERATURE-REVIEW

Psychogenic cough is a term designated for cases of chronic cough wher e there is no apparent organic or physiologic etiology. Despite its be ing a relatively rare condition, there are data that indicate that psy chogenic cough is an underdiagnosed condition, due mainly to health ca re professionals' unfamiliarity with the disorder. A recent search (Ap ril 1996) of the Medline and PsycLit databases revealed no previous li terature reviews on psychogenic cough. Therefore, we reviewed the publ ished articles on psychogenic cough to examine the characteristics, di agnosis, prevalence, etiology, and treatment of psychogenic cough. Dis cussion of the current information and its limitations is provided alo ng with implications for health care professionals working with childr en and adolescents.