Personality factors associated with anticipatory nausea/vomiting in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy

One hundred cancer chemotherapy patients rated the severity of pre- and posttreatment nausea and emesis and completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. In addition, scores on the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory were obtained for 59 of those patients. Thirty-three percent of the patients reported having experienced anticipatory nausea and 11% reported having experienced anticipatory vomiting. Patients who experienced anticipatory nausea had more posttreatment nausea and vomiting, were more depressed, and were characteristically more anxious than other patients. A personality profile including the future despair, social alienation, and inhibited style (from the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory) identified patients with anticipatory nausea.