Study	Reason for exclusion
Asilsoy 2008	Evaluation of chronic cough using American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) guidelines. Excluded from review, as not a randomised controlled trial (RCT)
Dettmar 2009	Study excluded, as not an RCT and not examining use of a management pathway. Study was a prospective cohort study of an online diagnostic website for adult patients with chronic cough. The diagnostic website allowed participants to provide information about their likely diagnosis that was based on a predetermined algorithm, which differentiated among 3 common causes of chronic cough (reflux, asthma and rhinitis) according to European Respiratory Society guidelines for chronic cough
English 2006	Study excluded, as not RCT and not examining use of a pathway for chronic cough. Study was a cross‐sectional evaluation of the accuracy of guidelines for screening patients for tuberculosis. Study found that with implementation of clinical guidelines for nurse practitioner screening of patients for suspected tuberculosis infection, a 68% increase in the rate of tuberculosis case detection was reported
Flores‐Hernandez 1999	Study excluded, as not RCT and not examining use of a clinical pathway for chronic cough in children. Before and after study of clinical guidelines for the management of acute respiratory infection, findings show that after implementation of management guidelines, inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics and cough syrups was decreased
Hover 2000	Study excluded, as not RCT and not examining chronic cough in children. Study was an evaluation performed via pretreatment and post‐treatment analysis and randomised chart review of implementation of principles of the American Academy of Pediatrics for the management of common office infections. Study did not utilise a clinical pathway and did not treat children with chronic cough
Nagel 2009	Review article presenting diagnostic pathway and treatment options for chronic (> 4 weeks) cough in children (published in German). Excluded, as not a research study. Paper presented a diagnostic and management pathway similar to those presented by Chang 2013 and Rehman 2009, and reiterated that cough lasting longer than 4 weeks in a child warrants thorough investigation for underlying pathology
Norton 2007	Prospective cohort study examining the effectiveness of a clinical pathway in reducing hospitalisation for acute asthma episodes in children presenting to the emergency department of a children's hospital. Study showed that after the clinical pathway had been implemented, hospital admissions in children with moderate to severe asthma were reduced by > 50% with no increase in re‐presentations. Excluded, as not RCT and pathway designed for acute asthma care, not chronic cough
Rehman 2009	This study was excluded, as it was not an RCT. This prospective cohort study of a management algorithm for diagnosis of causes of chronic cough in children 6 to 59 months of age was specifically designed for developing countries. Investigators aimed to establish the positive predictive value of the algorithm. This study found that the positive predictive value of the algorithm in predicting clinical diagnosis was 0.921
Rutten 1991	RCT examining use of an educational programme (participant handout) on cough and effects on the consulting behaviour of participants after they had received the intervention. Study excluded, as reported participant numbers did not specify numbers of children included in the study. We contacted the study author to obtain the numbers relevant for children; these data were not available. Study also excluded, as the intervention used was not a clinical pathway, and the intervention was used for participants presenting for acute cough episodes, not for chronic cough
Spelman 1991	Prospective cohort study examining the hypothesis that children with chronic cough will develop asthma. 106 participants with chronic cough, younger than 10 years of age, from Irish general practitioners, were treated according to an asthma protocol for 16 weeks. Follow‐up 2 years later showed that 71 children had been subsequently diagnosed with asthma. Study excluded, as not RCT, and the protocol used was not specific to the treatment of children with chronic cough