Insights from the RHINESSA Study suggest Chronic Cough to be Heritable Across Generations

This study investigated the heritability of chronic cough, examining whether individuals with chronic cough are more likely to have offspring who also develop cough, and whether this association varies by cough type (productive vs. nonproductive).

The RHINESSA Generation Study included 7,155 parents aged 30-54 who completed detailed questionnaires in 2000 and 2010, and 8,176 offspring aged ≥20 who completed similar questionnaires between 2012-2019. Chronic cough was classified as either productive or nonproductive. Mixed-effects logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the associations between parental and offspring cough, adjusting for multiple factors including offspring age, sex, body mass index, smoking history, asthma, rhinitis, gastroesophageal reflux, and parental smoking.

Results indicated that offspring of parents with nonproductive cough had a higher prevalence of nonproductive cough (11%) compared to those with parents without nonproductive cough (7%), with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 1.59 (95% CI: 1.20-2.10). Similarly, offspring of parents with productive cough had a higher prevalence of productive cough (14%) compared to those with non-productive cough parents (11%), with an aOR of 1.34 (95% CI: 1.07-1.67). No significant associations were found between mismatched cough types.

These findings suggest that chronic cough, independent of asthma, may be a distinct heritable trait with type-specific transmission patterns.