ERS 2026: Objective nighttime cough data linked to subsequent asthma symptom severity, Albus Health reports

OXFORD, England, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Albus Health today announced new findings from Leiden University Medical Centre showing that nocturnal cough, measured passively at home using the Albus Home contactless monitoring system, was associated with worsening daily patient‑reported asthma symptoms. The results were presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress 2026.

The study demonstrates that objective, high‑frequency nighttime monitoring can capture respiratory symptoms continuously and at scale, without requiring patients to wear a device or remember to record symptoms. This approach may help address a long‑standing challenge in clinical trials: the difficulty of collecting symptom data without relying on patients to recall and report it.

The research followed Dutch adults with severe, uncontrolled asthma after pulmonary rehabilitation in Davos, Switzerland. Participants used Albus Home at their bedside to passively monitor nocturnal cough for up to 12 months, while reporting daily asthma severity through an eHealth app. Among the first 13 of 20 enrolled, participants completed a median of 9.5 hours of monitoring per night for 335 out of 365 nights, representing near‑continuous adherence. Missing data were almost exclusively due to nights spent away from home. The device was feasible and well‑tolerated.

Higher nocturnal cough rates were strongly associated with worse daily asthma symptom scores. For every five‑fold increase in cough rate, the odds of a worse symptom score the following day were more than 1.5 times higher (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.40–1.72; p<0.001). The association persisted over the next two days (lead day 2 OR 1.49; lead day 3 OR 1.43). Individual cough patterns varied, suggesting nocturnal cough may serve as an early signal of worsening symptoms in a subset of patients with severe asthma.

"Nocturnal symptoms are an important and burdensome feature of asthma, yet they are difficult to monitor reliably over long periods," said Fleur Meulmeester, lead author, Leiden University Medical Centre. "Showing that objective nocturnal cough data correlate with patient‑reported symptoms highlights the potential of passive monitoring to provide valuable insights into asthma management."

The study used the first‑generation Albus Home platform. The latest generation captures a broader range of physiological and environmental measures, offering deeper insight into disease activity and treatment response.

Albus Home is used by multiple top 10 pharmaceutical companies and is available in 50 countries worldwide.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Albus Health