Nausea/Vomiting and Self-care in Patients with Cancer on Chemotherapy

Kim, Hye Jin; Kim, Hee Seung

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and self-care practice for nausea/vomiting in patients with cancer during chemotherapy. METHOD: The participants were 100 patients with cancer over 20 years of age who visited the outpatient department or were hospitalized for chemotherapy. Self-care in the case of nausea and vomiting was measured by the Dodd's scale. Data were analyzed using the SAS program and the following statistics were used frequency, percentage, unpaired t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The ratio of the occurrence of nausea/ vomiting in the participants was 70.0%. The incidence of nausea/ vomiting was significantly higher for women than for men. The incidence of nausea/ vomiting was also higher for patients with cancer not in the gastro-intestinal system (GIS) compared to that for patients with GIS cancer. The incidence of nausea/ vomiting positively correlated with anorexia, skin injury, and fatigue. CONCLUSION: The ratio of occurrence of nausea/ vomiting for the participants was 70.0%. The incidence of nausea/ vomiting was higher for women and patients with cancer not in the GIS. The incidence of nausea/ vomiting positively correlated with anorexia, skin injury, and fatigue. The results indicate that nausea/vomiting is a frequent symptom, particularly in women and there is a need to provide interventions to decrease the effects of this symptom.