We examined patients' experiences with nausea and vomiting after they were discharged from outpatient surgical centers. Data were collected on 211 surgical outpatients at 24-48 h after discharge via a telephone interview conducted by outpatient surgery nurses, and at 5 days after discharge via a patient-completed questionnaire. Telephone interviews were conducted with 193 patients. Questionnaires were completed by 154 patients. Over 35% of patients experienced postdischarge nausea and vomiting. Most had not experienced nausea and vomiting in the recovery room. The severity of nausea for these patients averaged 5 on a 10-point scale (10 indicating very severe nausea). During the 5 days after discharge, these patients reported experiencing nausea for an average of 1.7 days and vomiting for 0.7 days. Patients who experienced postdischarge nausea and vomiting were not able to resume their normal daily activities as quickly as those who did not. Patients managed postdischarge nausea and vomiting with little contact or intervention from health professionals and with minimal product purchases. The results indicate that postdischarge nausea and vomiting is common after outpatient surgery, and that it results in substantial distress and impairment for patients who experience it.

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The study evaluated the construct validity of the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS). Rokeach has presented factor analytic evidence that his instrument has the theorized dimensions. However, his results were based on analysis of ipsative data, and therefore, must be cautiously interpreted. The subjects in this study provided ratings of the values employed on the RVS, or normative data, which may be more suitable for factor analytic investigations. The outcomes suggest that the validity of the RVS is to some extent situation specific. It was concluded that ipsative measurement is useful when information about value choice is desired, but that normative measurement is more appropriate when the research is investigating the nature of value perception.