Assessment of the Adherence Rate of Acute Chemotherapy Induced Nausea and Vomiting Prophylaxis Regimens by Medical Team to NCCN Clinical Recommendations: Cross-Section Observation

Chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is still distressing adverse effect for patients. Thus, we conducted this study to assess the compliance of CINV prophylaxis patterns with NCCN guideline.

136 Patients with any kind of malignancy who undergoes chemotherapy in Shahid Ghazi hospital, Tabriz, Iran, were included in this study. Adherence rate to the NCCN guideline of anti-emetic therapy for different emetogenic potential chemotherapy regimens was evaluated.

All patients received their prophylaxis 30 min before chemotherapy, which is completely adherent to guideline. Hematological malignancies were associated with higher adherence rate (P=0.032). For high and moderate emetic risk patients, dexamethasone and ondansetron were remarkably under-dosed, whereas Granisetron was over-dosed. Adherence rate to guideline in high and moderate and minimal emetic risk chemotherapy was 72.3%, 22.9% and 69.2% respectively. None of low emetic risk patients received guideline compliant prophylaxis. In all emetic risk levels, 50 (36.8%) patients received guideline adherent prophylaxis.

As results indicated, adherence rate wasn’t optimal. Available dosage form of a medication has great impact on appropriate prescription. Thus, it is suggested for pharmaceutical companies to be informed about recent guidelines’ updates and subsequently produce proper dosage forms for different indications.