Abstract

The incidence of nausea and vomiting in patients with advanced cancer is high. Dunlop (1989) reports that approximately 42% of this client group will suffer from nausea alone while 32% will suffer from nausea and vomiting. Nausea and vomiting may be the result of cancer treatment with radiotherapy or chemotherapy or may present as symptoms of advancing disease. Dunlop (1989) and Dikken and Sitzia (1998) state that many patients find nausea and vomiting as distressing as pain in terms of the impact it has on their quality of life.