How often do healthy people cough?

Cough Counter uses 63 coughs per day as the game ceiling. That is the 95th percentile from a 24-hour recording of 79 healthy adults.

Holt and Smith (2023) fitted VitaloJAK cough monitors to 79 healthy volunteers. Most people barely coughed: geometric mean 4.6, median 7. Eight people did not cough at all. One person coughed 136 times.

The upper limit of normal (95th percentile) was 63 coughs in 24 hours. Men coughed 4–5 times more than women; their 95th percentiles were 111 and 45. The game uses the shared number 63, so you do not have to give a sex.

• Shared ceiling (95th percentile): 63
• Median / geometric mean: 7 / 4.6
• Men / women (95th percentile): 111 / 45
• Highest in the study: 136

This is a research estimate, not a medical certificate. The app does not diagnose disease and does not replace a doctor. If you cough a lot and it worries you, seek professional help.

Source: Holt KJ, Smith JA. How often do healthy people cough? Respir Res. 2023;24:275.