Objective To investigate the etiological diagnosis of chronic cough with pharyngitis-like manifestations. Methods Patients with chronic cough and pharyngitis-like manifestations were recruited from Outpatient Department of Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases between December 2002 to March 2010. The causes of chronic cough were investigated using a well-established diagnostic protocol, including history taking and physical examination, pulmonary function tests, induced sputum cytology, 24-h esophageal pH monitoring, etc. The final diagnosis depended on clinical manifestations, examination findings, and a successful response to therapy. Results 326 patients with chronic cough and pharyngitislike manifestations were included in the study with amedian duration of 24 ( 2 ～480) months, amean age of 41 ±13 years. The causes of chronic cough were identified as follows: post nasal drip syndrome or upper airway cough syndrome in 73 cases ( 23. 31% ) , cough variant asthma in 61 cases( 18. 71% ) , eosinophilic bronchitis in 70 cases( 22. 47% ) , gastroesophageal reflux-induced cough in 54 cases ( 16. 56% ) , atopiccough in 48 cases ( 14. 72% ) , and others in 40 cases ( 12. 27% ) . There is no significant difference in percentage of common causes of chronic cough ( P gt; 0. 05) . Conclusion The proportions of upper airway syndrome and other common causes are similar in chronic cough with pharyngitis-like manifestatioins, whichsuggest pharyngitis-like manifestations are not specific for diagnosis of upper airway cough syndrome.