Date of Award

1-1-1990

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Two of the most common and distressing side effects of chemotherapy for cancer are nausea and vomiting. Nausea and/or vomiting that follows treatment is thought to be pharmacological in nature, while nausea and/or vomiting experienced in anticipation of treatment is hypothesized to be a conditioned response.Few studies have examined nonpharmacological, psychological factors in the development and experience of postchemotherapy nausea and/or vomiting. While much research has been conducted on psychological factors associated with the development and experience of anticipatory nausea and/or vomiting, the vast majority of these studies have been retrospective in nature. The purpose of the present study was to prospectively examine the role of pharmacological and nonpharmacological variables in the development and experience of anticipatory and postchemotherapy nausea and/or vomiting.Thirty-six adult oncology outpatients beginning chemotherapy treatment served as subjects. Prior to their first treatment, patients rated how severe they expected the nausea and/or vomiting associated with their treatment to be and severity with which they experience motion sickness. Before each treatment, patients completed measures of depression and state anxiety. In addition, they reported on the severity and duration of anticipatory symptoms and postchemotherapy symptoms from their last treatment.Multiple regression analysis revealed that patient expectations consistently accounted for the most variance when predicting postchemotherapy symptoms, while pharmacological factors accounted for smaller amounts of the variance. Severity of postchemotherapy symptoms consistently accounted for the most variance when predicting anticipatory symptoms.It was concluded that oncologists need to consider patient expectations in addition to the pharmacological nature of the treatment protocol when prescribing antiemetic treatment. In addition, it was suggested that preventive measures be aimed at postchemotherapy symptoms, which should in turn eliminate anticipatory symptoms.

Download

Share

COinS