Epidemiology of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy: prevalence, severity, determinants, and the importance of race/ethnicity

Table 1 Maternal characteristics and NVP status during pregnancy.

NVP status n = 367	1^st trimester of pregnancy ^a
Maternal age-yr (mean ± SD)	31.74	± 4.70
Gestational Age -wk (mean ± SD)	11.03	± 1.84
Race/ethnicity- n (%)
Caucasian	298	(81.20)
Asian	15	(4.09)
Black	37	(10.08)
Hispanic	17	(4.63)
NVP - n (%)
Yes	288	(78.47)
No	79	(21.53)
Severity of NVP – n (%)
Mild	145	(52.16)
Moderate	126	(45.32)
Severe	7	(2.52)
Intensity of nausea (range 0–10 ^b ) – (mean ± SD)	4.69	± 2.48
Excessive salivation- n (%)	73	(25.98)
Distress caused by excessive salivation- n (%)
Not at all	7	(9.72)
Slightly	24	(33.33)
Moderatly	17	(23.61)
Greatly	7	(9.72)
Unbearable	17	(23.61)
Medications use to treat NVP in 1 ^st trimester ^c – n (%)	57	(20.36)
Non-pharmacological methods use for NVP in 1 ^st trimester ^d–n (%)	50	(17.86)

NVP = Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy
^a Missing values in the 1^st trimester questionnaire: Severity of NVP (n = 10); Excessive salivation (n = 7); Distress caused by excessive salivation (n = 1); medications and non-pharmacological methods use for NVP (n = 8).
^b 0 represented "no nausea at all"and 10 represented "unbearable nausea".
^c Medications reported to be used in the 1^st trimester of pregnancy to treat NVP were mostly (86%) the combination doxylamine/pyridoxine. Women also reported using metoclopramide, dimenhydrinate, hydroxyzine, meclizine, acetaminophen or acid reflux therapies.
^d Non-pharmacological methods used in the 1^st trimester of pregnancy included lifestyle and dietary changes, and the use of ginger, acupressure, homeopathic products, herbal teas, mint or lemon.

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