Wenjuanxing-Based Multidimensional Etiologic Screening and Clinical Validation of Chronic Cough in Children

NCT ID: NCT07306637

Last Updated: 2025-12-29

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Total Enrollment

400 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2026-01-31

Study Completion Date

2027-12-31

Brief Summary

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Chronic cough is a common and burdensome condition in children, with complex and overlapping etiologies that often lead to delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, and inappropriate treatment. This prospective, controlled, observational study aims to develop and clinically validate a Wenjuanxing-based, parent-reported, multidimensional etiologic screening questionnaire for pediatric chronic cough. Children aged 3-18 years presenting with cough lasting ≥2 weeks will be enrolled in a tertiary pediatric respiratory clinic and allocated to either a routine-care group or a questionnaire-assisted group. All caregivers will complete the standardized electronic questionnaire, which generates an automated preliminary etiologic suggestion based on symptom patterns, triggers, and associated features. Diagnostic accuracy, treatment effectiveness, and symptom resolution will be evaluated through structured follow-up at two weeks. The primary outcome is the difference in diagnostic accuracy between physicians using routine assessment alone and those supported by the questionnaire. Secondary outcomes include treatment response and prevention of cough chronicity. This study seeks to provide evidence for a scalable, digital, and standardized screening tool to improve early etiologic identification and clinical decision-making in pediatric chronic cough.

Detailed Description

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1. Development of a Wenjuanxing-based multidimensional etiologic screening questionnaire for pediatric chronic cough This study aims to develop and validate a structured, parent-reported, electronic questionnaire for multidimensional etiologic screening of chronic cough in children, based on current clinical practice guidelines and expert consensus. The questionnaire is designed and deployed on the Wenjuanxing platform and focuses on standardized, comprehensive, and reproducible symptom collection.

The questionnaire includes multiple domains: cough duration and temporal pattern (daytime vs nocturnal cough), cough characteristics (dry vs wet), triggering factors (exercise, cold air, allergen exposure), associated respiratory and extra-respiratory symptoms (wheezing, nasal congestion, postnasal drip, throat clearing, gastroesophageal reflux symptoms), past medical history, family history, and environmental exposures. Logical branching and rule-based algorithms are embedded to automatically generate preliminary etiologic suggestions, including cough variant asthma (CVA), upper airway cough syndrome (UACS), protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB), post-infectious cough (PIC), eosinophilic bronchitis (EB), and gastroesophageal reflux-related cough (GERC).

The electronic format allows standardized data acquisition, real-time logic checking, automated output of etiologic suggestions, and efficient data export for subsequent clinical evaluation and statistical analysis.
2. Clinical validation of the questionnaire in routine outpatient practice This is a prospective, controlled, observational study conducted in the pediatric respiratory outpatient clinic of Shanghai Children's Medical Center. Children aged 3-18 years presenting with cough lasting ≥2 weeks and meeting the inclusion criteria will be consecutively enrolled after informed consent is obtained from their caregivers.

All caregivers will complete the Wenjuanxing questionnaire. Participants will be assigned to one of two parallel groups according to the study protocol: a routine-care group, in which physicians perform diagnosis and treatment based on standard clinical assessment without access to questionnaire results; a questionnaire-assisted group, in which physicians review the questionnaire-generated etiologic suggestions before making diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.

At the initial visit, physicians will record their clinical diagnosis and treatment plan. In the questionnaire-assisted group, physicians will additionally rate the perceived usefulness of the questionnaire and their level of confidence in the questionnaire's etiologic suggestions using standardized numeric scales.
3. Follow-up and outcome assessment All enrolled patients will be followed up approximately two weeks after the initial visit via telephone or online contact using a standardized operating procedure. Caregivers will be asked to report changes in cough symptoms, including degree of improvement, time to symptom relief, and overall treatment effectiveness. Caregivers will also rate the perceived consistency between the questionnaire-based etiologic suggestion and the physician's final diagnosis.

If symptom improvement is insufficient, further guidance and an additional follow-up may be conducted according to the study protocol. The primary outcome is the difference in diagnostic accuracy between the routine-care group and the questionnaire-assisted group, with follow-up response serving as post-hoc clinical validation. Secondary outcomes include treatment effectiveness, caregiver satisfaction, physician acceptance, and feasibility of implementing the questionnaire in real-world outpatient settings.

This study aims to establish a scalable, digital, and standardized screening approach for pediatric chronic cough, supporting early etiologic identification and improving clinical decision-making in routine practice.

Conditions

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Chronic Cough (CC)

Keywords

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Pediatric chronic cough Etiologic Screening Electronic Questionnaire

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

COHORT

Study Time Perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

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Routine Care

Physician-Blinded to Questionnaire Results

No intervention (observational study)

Intervention Type OTHER

No intervention (observational study)

Questionnaire-Assisted Care

Physician-Informed by Questionnaire Results

No intervention (observational study)

Intervention Type OTHER

No intervention (observational study)

Interventions

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No intervention (observational study)

No intervention (observational study)

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

1. Children aged 3 to 18 years, any sex.
2. Presenting for medical care due to cough lasting ≥2 weeks.
3. No fever within the past 2 weeks.
4. Caregiver is willing to complete the Wenjuanxing questionnaire and agree to follow-up.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Presence of congenital airway malformations, chronic lung disease, or severe immunodeficiency.
2. Recent participation in other interventional clinical research.
3. Unable to complete follow-up as required.
Minimum Eligible Age

3 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Shanghai Children's Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Yong Yin, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Shanghai Children's Medical Center

Locations

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Shanghai Children's Medical Center

Shanghai, , China

Site Status

Countries

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China

Central Contacts

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Yong Yin, PhD

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 8618930830705

Email: [email protected]

Facility Contacts

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Shanghai Children's Medical Center

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

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SCMCIRB-YJ2025012

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id