Decoding the impact of the placebo response in clinical trials for chronic cough

This review explored the impact of the placebo response in clinical trials of cough medications, and aimed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved. Outcomes of the COUGH-1 and COUGH-2 trials of gefapixant in adults diagnosed with refractory chronic cough or unexplained chronic cough were examined as part of the review, with the authors noting that "[c]ough frequency was measured using the VitaloJAK cough counting system, which calculated the number of cough events over a 24-h period divided by the total duration of recording".