Recommendations

Document Overview

Design and created by Guideline Central in participation with the American College of Chest Physicians.

Cough Due to TB and Other Chronic Infections

American College of Chest Physicians

Publication Date: Feb 1, 2018

Page Last Updated: May 5, 2026

ACCP Classification Scheme for Grading Evidence and Recommendations in Clinical Guidelines

ACCP Classification Scheme for Grading Evidence and Recommendations in Clinical Guidelines
Grade	Description	Benefits vs risks and burdens	Methodologic quality of supporting evidence
1A	Strong recommendation, high-quality evidence	Benefits clearly outweigh risks and burdens or vice versa	RCTs without important limitations or overwhelming evidence from observational studies
1B	Strong recommendation, moderate-quality evidence	Benefits clearly outweigh risks and burdens or vice versa	RCTs with important limitations or exceptionally strong evidence from observational studies
1C	Strong recommendation, low-quality or very low quality evidence	Benefits clearly outweigh risks and burdens or vice versa	Observational studies or case series
2A	Weak/Conditional recommendation, high-quality evidence	Benefits closely balanced with risks and burdens	RCTs without important limitations or overwhelming evidence from observational studies
2B	Weak/Conditional recommendation, moderate-quality evidence	Benefits closely balanced with risks and burdens	RCTs with important limitations or exceptionally strong evidence from observational studies
2C	Weak/Conditional recommendation, low-quality or very low quality evidence	Uncertainty in the estimates of benefits, risks, and burdens; benefits, risk, and burden may be closely balanced.	Observational studies or case series
U-CBS	Ungraded consensus-based statement

ACCP: American College of Chest Physicians; RCT: Randomized controlled trial.

Document Overview

Document Title: Cough Due to TB and Other Chronic Infections

Authoring Society: American College of Chest Physicians

Document Publication Date: Feb 1, 2018

Page Last Reviewed/Updated: May 5, 2026

Document Type: Guideline

Country of Publication: United States

Full Text Freely Available: Yes

Full Text Guideline: journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(17)33131-8/fulltext

Source Citation: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2017.11.018

Supplemental Implementation Resources

Podcast

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Document Objectives: Cough is common in pulmonary TB and other chronic respiratory infections. Identifying features that predict whether pulmonary TB is the cause would help target appropriate individuals for rapid and cost-effective screening, potentially limiting disease progression and preventing transmission to others.

Scope: Assessment and Screening, Management, Treatment

Diseases/Conditions (MeSH)

D014376 - Tuberculosis

D003371 - Cough

D014397 - Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

D014376 - Tuberculosis

D003371 - Cough

D014397 - Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, cough, infections, pulmonary infections

Target Patient Population: Patients with cough due to TB or other respiratory infections

Inclusion Criteria: Male, Female, Adolescent, Adult, Older Adult

Health Care Settings: Ambulatory, Hospital, Long Term Care, Outpatient

Intended Users: Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Physician, Physician Assistant

Recommendation Development Processes & Methodology

Number of Source Documents: 118

Literature Search Start Date: Sunday, January 1, 1984

Literature Search End Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Includes peer/external review process?: Yes

Includes public comment process?: No

Methodologist involvement?: Yes

Patient involvement?: No

Includes multi-disciplinary group?: Yes

Includes systematic review?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of evidence?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of recommendation?: Yes

Discloses funding source?: Yes

Discloses conflicts of interest?: Yes

Includes benefits/harms analysis with recommendations?: No