Incidence and severity of acute nausea and vomiting
Acute nausea was reported by 72 patients (33%) of whom 20 (27.7%) experienced mild, 32 (44.5%) experienced moderate, and 20 (27.7%) experienced severe nausea (table 1). Regarding emetogenic potential, most patients (58; 80%) who experienced acute nausea received either high or moderate emetogenic chemotherapy (table 7). In addition, a statistically significant association was found between a high emetogenic potential and incidence of acute nausea (P=0.003) (table7). Patients treated in an inpatient setting were found to be more likely to experience acute nausea (P=0.033) (table 3). No statistically significant correlation was found between age, sex, diagnosis, and presence of acute nausea (table 6). Contrary to our expectations, the association between adherence to guidelines and the occurrence of acute nausea was not statistically significant (P=0.289) (table 3). A distinct association was found between acute nausea and acute vomiting (P=0.001), delayed nausea (P=0.001), delayed vomiting (P=0.002), and food intake intolerance in both the acute and delayed phases (table 3).
Acute vomiting was reported in 44 patients (20.3%), of whom 34 (78%) experienced 1–2 vomiting episodes while 10 (22%) experienced ≥3. Most patients (37; 84%) who experienced acute vomiting received either high or moderate emetogenic chemotherapy (table 3). However, the associations between the emetogenic potential and the occurrence of acute vomiting (P=0.109), and between treatment setting, age, sex, and presence of acute vomiting were not statistically significant. The association between adherence to guidelines and the presence of acute vomiting was statistically significant (P=0.052). Patients with leukemia/lymphoma and CNS tumors had a significantly higher incidence of acute vomiting. A distinct association was found between patients with acute vomiting and their tendency to develop delayed nausea (P=0.026), delayed vomiting (P=0.002), and food intake intolerance in the acute and delayed phases (P=0.001) (table 6 ,7).
Food intolerance in the cute phase was reported by 118 patients as follows: 54 (24.8%) assessments were found to be severe (tolerated <25% of normal intake), 24 (11%) moderate (tolerated 25–50% of normal intake), and 40 (18.3%) mild (tolerated 50–75% of normal intake). A strong association was found between food intolerance and type of chemotherapy emetogenicity (P=0.001) (table 1).