RATIONALE: Cough is a commonly reported symptom in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) that negatively impacts patient-reported quality of life. However, both the burden of cough at diagnosis and the behaviour of cough over time have not been systematically described in patients with IPF. OBJECTIVES: By utilising data prospectively collected as part of the PROFILE study we sought to assess cough burden and the impact that this has on quality of life within a cohort of patients with newly diagnosed IPF. We also re-examined the previously described relationship between cough and mortality and the association of cough with the MUC5B promoter polymorphism. METHODS: The PROFILE study is a multicentre, prospective, observational, longitudinal cohort study of incident IPF. Leicester cough questionnaire (LCQ) scores were recorded at baseline in 632 subjects and then repeated 6 monthly in a subset (n=216) of the cohort. RESULTS: The median LCQ at diagnosis was 16.1 (inter-quartile range 6.5). LCQ scores remained stable over the subsequent year in the majority of patients. There was a weak association between LCQ score and baseline lung function with worse cough related quality of life associating with more severe physiological impairment. Cough scores were not associated with subsequent mortality after correcting for baseline lung function. Furthermore, there was no relationship between LCQ score and MUC5B promotor polymorphism status. CONCLUSION: The burden of cough in IPF is high. Although cough is weakly associated with disease severity at baseline, cough-specific QoL as measured by the LCQ, confers no prognostic value. Cough-specific QoL burden remains relatively stable over time and does not associate with MUC5B promotor polymorphism.