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Patient expectations as predictor of chemotherapy-induced nausea

  • Empirical Articles
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

We examined the relationship between patient's pretreatment expectations for nausea and vomiting and their subsequent development in a homogeneous group of 29 female cancer patients receiving platinum-containing chemotherapy as inpatients (Study 1) and in 81 subjects with any of a variety of cancer diagnoses treated largely as outpatients (Study 2). Each study found a significant relationship between patients' expectations for nausea development measured prior to their first treatment and their mean postchemotherapy nausea severity (both, p<0.05). Patients' expectations accounted for unique variance in nausea severity in each study even after controlling for known pharmacological and physiological predictors of nausea (Study 1: ΔR2=.18, p<.04; Study 2: ΔR2=.05, p<.03). By contrast, we found no significant relationships between expectations for vomiting and subsequent vomiting.

Our results support the view that patients' expectations for nausea affect its subsequent development, indicating the presence of a significant psychological component in treatment-related nausea. Implications of this are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Medicine Unit, University of Rochester Cancer Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 704, 14642, Rochester, NY

    Joseph A. Roscoe Ph.D., Jane T. Hickok M.D., M.P.H. & Gary R. Morrow Ph.D., M.S.

Authors
  1. Joseph A. Roscoe Ph.D.
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  2. Jane T. Hickok M.D., M.P.H.
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  3. Gary R. Morrow Ph.D., M.S.
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Additional information

Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by grant NR01905 from the National Institute of Nursing Research.

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Roscoe, J.A., Hickok, J.T. & Morrow, G.R. Patient expectations as predictor of chemotherapy-induced nausea. ann. behav. med. 22, 121–126 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895775

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895775

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