Age, motion sickness tied to chemo-induced nausea, vomiting in children with cancer

In children with cancer receiving chemotherapy, factors such as age and susceptibility to motion sickness are associated with the risk of acute chemotherapy-induced nausea (CIN), reports a study.

Acute CIN showed a significant association with susceptibility to motion sickness (odds ratio [OR], 5.73, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.36‒33.7) and older age (OR, 4.19, 95 percent CI, 1.30‒14.7) when comparing patients aged 8‒18 years to those aged 0‒3 years.

On the other hand, delayed CIN correlated with uncontrolled acute nausea or vomiting (OR, 10.3, 95 percent CI, 2.65‒50.9), highly emetogenic chemotherapy (OR, 8.26, 95 percent CI, 1.17‒76.8), and having a haematologic cancer type (OR, 7.81, 95 percent CI, 1.05‒79.2).

“More research is needed on how best to integrate risk information in preventive antiemetic strategies,” the researchers said. “Sufficient acute nausea and vomiting control are crucial to prevent delayed CIN.”

This prospective, observational study included 101 children (median age 6.4 years range, 0.8‒17.9 years) with cancer receiving moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy. Complete control of acute and delayed CIN, defined as no nausea in the acute phase 0‒24 hours after chemotherapy and in the delayed phase starting after the acute phase and ending 5 days later, served as the primary endpoint.

The researchers performed multivariable analyses, including age, sex, cancer type, susceptibility to motion sickness, chemotherapy duration, numbers of antiemetics, co-administration with opioids or tricyclic antidepressants, and previously uncontrolled nausea or vomiting.