| Abstract: |
Little is known about the course of development of anticipatory nausea and vomiting (ANV). Seventy-one new chemotherapy outpatients were interviewed immediately before and after each of their chemotherapy infusions. Twenty-six patients eventually reported ANV. Variation in the number of cycles of chemotherapy treatment received before they developed ANV was not a simple function of variables theoretically associated with conditionability. Examination of the infusions immediately preceding patients' initial experience of ANV revealed that onset of ANV early in the course of chemotherapy treatment was associated with a pattern of low, stable levels of anxiety as well as with posttreatment nausea. A later onset of ANV was characterized by a pattern of escalating anxiety as well as markedly elevated posttreatment nausea for the infusion immediately preceding onset. It is concluded that anxiety is not necessary for the development of ANV; however, escalations in anxiety, along with increased posttreatment nausea, appear to trigger the occurrence of ANV for some patients. Possible causes for these escalations over the course of treatment are considered. © 1987 American Psychological Association. |
