Videotape Technology in the Study of Antiemetic Drugs

To the Editor: Historically, trials of antiemetic drugs have been hampered by technical problems in the evaluation of emetic episodes. Past studies have relied on the patient or on trained hospital personnel to record the episodes. In designing a study to compare droperidol and prochlorperazine in the amelioration of cisplatin-induced vomiting, no method that depended on the patient or a non-dedicated observer was considered sufficiently objective. With a data-collection period of 16 to 18 hours for each patient, hiring a dedicated observer would have been expensive. We have selected an alternative technique that is objective and is more cost effective . . . No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.