Coughing remains one of the most common complaints when applying to a family doctor. According the European Respiratory Society survey 18 277 adults aged 20-48 years from 16 countries were investigated. The night cough was found in 30% of patients, productive cough - 10%, and unproductive - 10% [1]. Cough was noted in 30-40% of adults and caused about 20% of appeals to the doctor and substantially affected the patient quality of life(QOL).

Since the existing methods for evaluating the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions tend to reflect a purely biological approach and do not take into account the diversity of human life, the clinician’s interest in quality of patient’s life has significantly increased in recent decades [3, 10]. Supporting the quality of life, which is dependent on health, has become one of the important components of health care in the world [6, 7]. The question of quality of life related to health implies a global measure of patient perception and functional status [2, 3, 9].

The quality of life is influenced by a number of factors: the physical, mental and emotional state, the degree of its financial independence, the level of socialization, social status, and the state of the environment [4, 5]. Most people are designed to prolong their lives, improve their quality of life, ability to adapt to exacerbation of their illness and feel comfortable in this situation. Therefore, the main tasks of a physician in caring a patient, is not only the achievement of clinical and laboratory remission and the prevention of progression of the disease, but also the improvement of health and patient well-being[8].

The purpose of the study is to assess the patient’s quality of life and functional statechanges after the treatment with Rapitus in combination therapy in patients with acute cough on the ARI background.

The study included 60 patients over the age of 18 with a diagnosis of ARI.

Inclusion criteria: acute cough for at least 12 hours and no more than 7 days, which is the criteria of clinically confirmed ARI (acute pharyngitis, acute laryngitis, laryngotracheitis, tracheitis, tracheobronchitis).

Exclusion criteria: bacterial infection (pneumonia), bronchoobstructive disease, acute respiratory failure, cancer, intolerance to the drug components, exacerbation or decompensation of chronic diseases, pregnancy and breastfeeding, diabetes mellitus.

The patient's conditionassessment included the collection and analysis of anamnesis, cough score, and SF-36 (quality of life assessment) [2] at the time of treatment, after 3 and 7 days after the treatment start.

The patient’s distribution to groups was carried out by random sampling (Table 1): 30 patients received Rapitus syrup 60 mg x 3 times/day, 30 patients control group - Plantain syrup 10 ml 3 times/day. The groups were comparable in terms of development, severity and clinical manifestations of respiratory disease.

The data analysis of clinical disease exacerbations in patients of both groups, showed an acute disease onset with a rise in temperature, intoxicationsymptoms, catarrhal phenomena in the nasopharynx. All patients were treated with complex treatment according todisease severity (oral rehydration, antipyretics and antibiotics for indications).

During the study, the quality of patients life was assessed using a standardized SF-36 (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Status), which the patient filled out before treatment and each subsequent visit.

SF-36 belongs to non-specific questionnaires for assessing the quality of life. It is widely used in the United States and European countries. In these countries, studies were conducted on individual populations and the results obtained for the healthy populationnorms and for groups of patients with various chronic diseases (with the allocation of groups by gender and age). The questionnaire consists of 36 items grouped in 8 scales: physical functioning, role-playing, bodily pain, general health, viability, social functioning, emotional state and mental health. Each scaleindicators range from 0 to 100, where 100 corresponds to full health.

The following indicators were quantified:

To assess the elements of psycho-physiological status, the "Self-esteem.Activity. Mood "scale(" SAN ") was used. This questionnaire is a map (table) containing 30 pairs of words that reflect the studied features of the psycho-emotional state (state of health, mood, activity). In developing the technique, the authors proceeded from the fact that the three main components of the functional psycho-emotional state - well-being, activity and mood can be characterized by polar estimates, between which there is a continuum of intermediate values. Score 4 and lower, obtained by this method, indicates a decrease in well-being, activity and mood. The average mark of the scale5 and above, indicatesa subjects favorable state in the assessment area.

During the study was found that cough has a significant effect on quality of life in allstudied parameters, manifested by a violation of both physical and psycho-emotional capabilities (Table 2). To a greater extent, coughing depended on subjective assessment indicators of the general health state, vital (energy, mood) and social activity (sufficient emotional and physical ability to communicate with other people).

In 3 days treatment course the patient’s condition improved, which was reflected in the QL indicators: in the Rapitos group, the physical as well as mental components increased significantly, while only the physical component reacted in the control group. At day 7 treatment in the group receiving Rapitus, there were obtained significantly higher rates compared to the state before treatment: the physical QL component increased (9 ± 1.94 points), and the index of the mental component was (4.29 ± 1.6 points). The general condition of patients receiving Plantain Syrup also improved, but to a lesser extent (by 6.24 ± 0.66 and 4.67 ± 1.51 points, respectively).

The difference in the indicator value in the treatmentdynamics is - statistically significant (P <0.05), * - 3 days compared with the state of treatment, ** 7 days compared with 3 days treatment, # 7 days compared with the state before treatment.

The functionalpatient’s status was assessed by means of a differential self-assessment functional state scale (SAN) (Table 3). On the first visit there was not only a decrease in functional indicators, but also their disproportion - prevailing decline in well-being and activity. After 7 days treatment, there was an improvement in all indicators (state of health, activity, mood), and also balanced their proportional relationships. These changes took place in both groups, but positive dynamics was recorded to a greater extent among patients who received Rapitus.

The difference in the indicator value in the treatmentdynamics is statistically significant (P <0.05), * - 3 days compared with the state of treatment, ** 7 days compared with 3 days treatment, 7 days compared with the state before treatment.