Postchemotherapy Nausea and Vomiting in Cancer Patients Receiving outpatient Chemotherapy

Abstract

Few studies have examined nonpharmacologic psychological factors in the development and experience of postchemotherapy nausea and vomiting in cancer patients. In this study, 36 adult oncology outpatients who were beginning chemotherapy served as subjects. Regression analysis revealed that the patients' expectations of how severe the nausea and vomiting would be consistently accounted for unique variance beyond pharmacologic factors in predicting the frequency and severity of these symptoms. Patients who developed these symptoms also expected them to be significantly more severe than did patients who did not experience them. These findings suggest that oncologists need to consider patients' expectations when prescribing antiemetic treatments, whether behavioral or pharmacologic. Addressing patients' cognitions in addition to providing standard behavioral and pharmacologic antiemetics may prove useful in preventing or reducing the side effects experienced in the postchemotherapy period.