Evaluation of the Rhodes Index of Nausea and Vomiting for ambulatory surgery patients.

Background: The Index of Nausea and Vomiting (INV), developed by Rhodes and others in 1984, measures three dimensions of upper gastrointestinal distress: nausea, vomiting and retching (NVR). While the revised version has been tested with a variety of high-risk populations, there are no data suggesting that it can be used to assess upper gastrointestinal distress among the growing numbers of ambulatory or day surgery patients.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate a modified version of the INV for use with ambulatory surgery patients.

Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted using data obtained from a descriptive study designed to identify risk factors for postdischarge nausea and vomiting (PDNV) among adult ambulatory surgery patients. Patients who reported PDNV (n = 190) participated via phone interview 24 hours after discharge by completing a modified Rhodes INV.

Findings: Reliability analysis (alpha = 0.897) indicated that the modified Rhodes INV measured upper gastrointestinal distress as a single concept in the postdischarge ambulatory surgical sample. One item of the 8-item scale was dropped. Principal component analysis extracted one factor that accounted for 67% of the variance with all items loading.

Conclusions: Upper gastrointestinal distress following ambulatory surgery discharge comprises a different symptom mix than during other high-risk events such as pregnancy or chemotherapy. Further research on the differences in assessing NVR among different populations is indicated.