Chronic cough greatly decreases the quality of life and is often refractory to treatment. Interventions at an early stage could prevent cough from becoming chronic. To this end, the patients at high risk of cough prolongation would need to be identified. In this study, we investigated the factors that predicted cough at 12 months among subjects with a recent-onset cough.This was a prospective, observational follow-up study in a community-based population consisting of working-age subjects. The first e-mail survey in 2017 included a comprehensive questionnaire about current cough and its risk factors. The 259 subjects who reported a recent-onset (<8 weeks) cough were sent a follow-up questionnaire 12 months later.The response rate was 72.6% (188 subjects). There were 99 subjects (52.7%) with cough in 2018. The following baseline factors predicted the presence of any cough at 12 months in the multivariable analysis: wheezing (adjusted odds ratio (aOR 2.80, 95% CI 1.3–5.27), dog ownership (aOR 2.56, 95% CI 1.21–5.44), cough duration >3 weeks (aOR 2.29, 95% CI 1.11–4.76), family history of chronic cough (aOR 2.20, 95% CI 1.13–4.30), body mass index >25 kg·m⁻² (aOR 2.06, 95% CI 1.02–4.15) and frequent somatic symptoms (aOR 1.36, 95% CI 1.13––1.64). There were 29 subjects (15.4%) with continuous cough and 66 subjects (35.1%) with recurrent cough. The risk factors were completely different between recurrent and continuous cough.It may be possible to identify the risk factors of cough prolongation among subjects with recent-onset cough. Early interventions should be targeted to these kinds of patients.