Prevalence of anticipatory nausea and emesis in cancer chemotherapy patients

Abstract

The prevalence of anticipatory nausea (AN) and anticipatory emesis (AE) in 71 cancer chemotherapy outpatients was measured by a self-report questionnaire. An 18.3% prevalence rate was found, with a mean onset of 5.12 hr prior to treatment. AN/AE most typically occurred at home or while traveling to the clinic and those who experienced it also reported a significantly higher frequency of posttreatment nausea, vomiting, constipation, and dry and itching skin.

The incidence of anticipatory nausea and vomiting after repeat cycle chemotherapy: the effect of granisetron

“…The recorded data from this study do not allow us to draw a conclusion with respect to the relationship between the incidence of delayed nausea and vomiting and ANV, though it is likely that delayed nausea and vomiting may play a role in the emergence of ANV. The onset of ANV required a median of 4-5 chemotherapy treatment cycles, in agreement with published data (Nicholas, 1982;Redd & Andresen, 1991). The percentage of patients with ANV per treatment cycle remained low: a maximum prevalence of 4.8% for anticipatory nausea and 3.7% for anticipatory vomiting up to session 6 was found.…”

“…The percentage of patients who reported ANV was subdivided by Morrow et al (1982) into 24% who experienced anticipatory nausea and 9% anticipatory vomiting. The relationship between the development of ANV and the number of chemotherapy treatments has also been documented (Redd & Andresen, 1981;Nicholas, 1982;Redd et al, 1982).…”

“…The incidence of ANV may vary widely from centre to centre owing to heterogeneity of patients and treatments. Early reviews of the prevalence of ANV showed that it ranges from 28.3% (Nicholas, 1982) to 44% (Nesse et al, 1980). Love et al (1982) reported a prevalence of anticipatory vomiting of 38%.…”

“…The percentage of patients who reported ANV was subdivided by Morrow et al (1982) into 24% who experienced anticipatory nausea and 9% anticipatory vomiting. The relationship between the development of ANV and the number of chemotherapy treatments has also been documented (Redd & Andresen, 1981;Nicholas, 1982;Redd et al, 1982).Chang (1981) showed that ANV is poorly responsive to treatment with conventional antiemetics, and much effort has been put into understanding the aetiology of ANV by Morrow et al (1991). Behavioural treatment (Morrow & Morrell, 1982) to desensitise patients by means of counselling or by relaxation techniques has been considered.…”

Hypnosis in the Treatment of Anticipatory Nausea and Vomiting in Patients Receiving Cancer Chemotherapy

“…Literature claims an average ANV frequency of 30% [3]ranging from 28 to 50% in the various series [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]; these prevalence rates have remained largely unchanged over the last years, despite the availability of new 5-HT 3 receptor antagonists [12]. The type of chemotherapy, distinct measurement methodologies [10, 13], severity and duration of previous chemotherapy-associated NV [14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19], and patient heterogeneity (younger age [7, 11, 15, 20], susceptibility to motion sickness [21], smells and tastes during chemotherapy [10, 22], preexisting anxious state [4, 10, 17, 23, 24], pretreatment expectations of chemotherapy-related nausea [25]) may account for the reported variability.…”