Objective Cough Monitoring in Children
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Objective Cough Monitoring in Children: Testing an adult cough detection system
IRAS ID
135617
Contact name
Clare Murray
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospital of South Manchester
Research summary
Cough is extremely common in childhood but assessment relies heavily on parental reporting, particularly in the young. A tool for accurately measuring cough frequency and intensity would be beneficial.
A custom-built 24 hour cough monitoring system (CE marked, FDA approved) is already validated for the measurement of cough frequency in adults. The system uses custom written software to remove silences and non-cough sounds and enable the number of coughs to be counted more quickly. A web portal is used to track the process of collecting and analysing the recordings and aids its use in trials.
The above system has never been tested in children; however it is highly likely that the methods for detecting cough will be similar to those in adults. By testing this system we hope to look at the practicalities of 24hr cough recordings in children, trial the use of the web portal, test the file reduction software (as there may be differences in the cough sounds from children to adults) and collect a data set to aid development of a fully automated cough detection system in children.
The study will be divided into two phases; Phase A would involve the recruitment of 15-30 children (2-12 years old) who are currently inpatients with cough. They would wear the cough monitor to collect 24hr cough recordings. Feedback would be collected from the children, parents and nursing staff. Phase B, following successful completion of Phase A, would involve the recruitment of 20 children (2-12 years) attending the respiratory outpatients clinic who are complaining of cough. They would perform cough recordings at home/school for 24 hours with feedback from children/families sought throughout.
The recordings from both phase A and B will be uploaded to the web portal and used to assist in the development of the automated cough detection system.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/NW/0577
Date of REC Opinion
22 Aug 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion