Chemotherapy-induced nausea/vomiting and functional status in women treated for breast cancer

Nausea and vomiting are among the most distressing symptoms for cancer patients treated with chemotherapy even with the widespread use of 5-HT3 antagonists. Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is composed of 4 major components: acute nausea, delayed nausea, acute vomiting, and delayed vomiting. Determining the relationship of each component of CINV on the functional status of women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer was the purpose of this study. This longitudinal, descriptive study recruited 303 patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy from 40 study sites in the United States. Reliable and valid measures of CINV and functional status were employed. Patients demonstrated significant decreases in the following aspects of functional status as measured by the SF-36: physical functioning (P < .0005), role limitations due to physical problems (P = .003), general health (P = .029), vitality (P < .0005), and social functioning (P = .001). The pattern of reduction in usual activities and increase in hours of resting correlated best with 2 components of CINV--delayed nausea and delayed vomiting (P < .0001, each). The results of this study suggest that control of delayed CINV may contribute to the functional improvement of women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer.