Table 3.

Summary of Data of the Included Publications Relevant to Key Question 3: For Children With Chronic Cough (> 4 Weeks Duration) Who Do Not Have an Underlying Lung Disease, With or Without Gastrointestinal GER Symptoms, What GER-Based Therapies Should Be Used and for How Long? (If We Find No to Q1, Q2 Should Be Omitted)

Paper and Year	Evidence Level	Key Relevant Recommendation	Comment
de Benedictis and Bush, 20188	Not stated	“Children with chronic cough and typical symptoms of GERD should undergo medical treatment—dietary, lifestyle modifications and acid suppression therapy. Here, we suggest that a three-stage therapeutic trial should be completed before diagnosing reflux-related cough: (1) clear-cut response to a 4 to 8-week treatment with PPI; (2) relapse on stopping medication; (3) new response to recommencing medication, with weaning down therapy as appropriate to the child’s symptoms”8	PRISMA data not shown
NASPGHAN and ESPGHAN guideline, 20181	Expert opinion	No specific recommendation for children with cough and GERD but it is implied that GERD on its own should be treated. In the treatment of GERD: “Based on expert opinion, the working group recommends evaluation of treatment efficacy and exclusion of alternative causes of symptoms in infants and children not responding to 4 to 8 weeks of optimal medical therapy for GERD.”1 Strong recommendation	GER-specific systematic review and guideline
NICE guideline, 20152	Experience and opinion of the group	No specific recommendation for children with cough and GERD but it is implied that GERD on its own should be treated. For GERD treatment, “Assess the response to a 4 week trial of the PPIs or H2 receptor antagonist and consider referral to a specialist for possible endoscopy if the symptoms do not resolve or recur after stopping the treatment”2	GER-specific systematic review and guideline

See Table 1 legend for expansion of abbreviations.