Journal article

Measurement and Monitoring of Nausea Severity in Emergency Department Patients: A Comparison of Scales and Exploration of Treatment Efficacy Outcome Measures

Robert Meek, Diana Egerton-Warburton, Michaela J Mee, George Braitberg

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE | WILEY-BLACKWELL | Published : 2015

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The objective was to investigate the correlation of the visual analog scale (VAS) and numeric rating scale (NRS) for nausea severity measurement and to explore options for improved reporting of antiemetic efficacy trial results. METHODS: This was a multicenter observational study of adult emergency department (ED) patients with nausea. Participants rated severity at enrollment and 30 minutes posttreatment using an adjectival scale, a VAS, and an NRS. Posttreatment, patients described symptom change and rated satisfaction. RESULTS: Ratings were performed by 258 patients. Both the VAS (0 to 100 mm) and the NRS (0 to 10) discriminated between adjectival severity categories. Median r..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

Funded by a Southern Health Emerging Researcher Fellowship award ($25,000) and an Australasian College of Emergency Medicine Morson Taylor award ($10,000). Note: The grant was primarily to aid conduct of the concurrent and previously published randomized controlled trial, which is referred to in this article: Egerton-Warburton D, Mee M, Meek R, Braitberg G. Antiemetic use for nausea and vomiting in adult emergency department patients: randomized controlled trial comparing ondansetron, metoclopramide, and placebo. Ann Emerg Med. 2014; DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2014.03.017.