The Nausea Questionnaire can be used to evaluate patients with nausea. The system is based on the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Findings can be monitored over time and can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of different interventions. The study was done at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Elements of the Nausea Questionnaire:
(1) symptom categories of nausea, with the nausea rating index (NRI)
(2) overall rating index (ORI)
(3) visual analogue scale (VAS)
Symptom Category |
Finding |
Rank Values |
group 1 (affective) |
tiring |
1 |
|
exhausting |
2 |
group 2 (affective) |
sickening |
1 |
|
suffocating |
2 |
group 3 (affective) |
fearful |
1 |
|
frightening |
2 |
|
terrifying |
3 |
group 4 (affective) |
punishing |
1 |
|
grueling |
2 |
|
cruel |
3 |
|
vicious |
4 |
|
killing |
5 |
group 5 (affective) |
wretched |
1 |
|
blinding |
2 |
group 6 (miscellaneous) |
spreading |
1 |
|
radiating |
2 |
|
penetrating |
3 |
|
piercing |
4 |
group 7 (miscellaneous) |
tight |
1 |
|
numb |
2 |
|
drawing |
3 |
|
squeezing |
4 |
|
tearing |
5 |
group 8 (miscellaneous) |
cool |
1 |
|
cold |
2 |
|
freezing |
3 |
group 9 (miscellaneous) |
nagging |
1 |
|
nauseating |
2 |
|
agonizing |
3 |
|
dreadful |
4 |
|
torturing |
5 |
where:
• The rank value is 0 is a group is not present.
affective symptom rating scale =
= SUM(rank values for first 5 symptom groups)
miscellaneous symptom rating scale =
= SUM(rank values for symptom groups 6 to 9)
nausea rating index =
= SUM(rank values for all 9 groups)
The Overall Nausea Index is a numerical grading system for the nausea.
Overall Nausea Index (ONI) |
Points |
no nausea |
0 |
mild |
1 |
discomforting |
2 |
distressing |
3 |
horrible |
4 |
excruciating |
5 |
Visual Analogue Scale:
(1) A 10 cm line ranging from "no nausea" to "extreme nausea".
(2) The patient makes a mark along the line corresponding to the amount of nausea experienced.
Interpretation:
• minimum nausea rating scale: 0
• maximum nausea rating scale: 31
Specialty: Gastroenterology, Pedatrics, Hematology Oncology, Surgery, general, Pharmacology, clinical