Rating of four different foods in women with hyperemesis gravidarum: a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate four foods in women with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) on their agreeability and tolerability.

DESIGN

Prospective, randomised, within-subject cross-over trial.

SETTING

Single-centre, tertiary, university hospital in Malaysia.

PARTICIPANTS

72 women within 24-hour of first admission for HG who were 18 years or above, with confirmed clinical pregnancy of less than 16 weeks' gestation were recruited and analysed. Women unable to consume food due to extreme symptoms, known taste or swallowing disorder were excluded.

INTERVENTIONS

Each participant chewed and swallowed a small piece of apple, watermelon, cream cracker and white bread in random order and was observed for 10 min after each tasting followed by a 2 min washout for mouth rinsing and data collection.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Primary outcome was food agreeability scored after 10 min using an 11-point 0-10 Visual Numerical Rating Scale (VNRS). Nausea was scored at baseline (prior to tasting) and 2 and 10 min using an 11-point VNRS. Intolerant responses of gagging, heaving and vomiting were recorded.

RESULTS

On agreeability scoring, apple (mean±SD 7.2±2.4) ranked highest followed by watermelon (7.0±2.7) and crackers (6.5±2.6), with white bread ranked lowest (6.0±2.7); Kruskal-Wallis H test, p=0.019. Apple had the lowest mean nausea score and mean rank score, while white bread had the highest at both 2 and 10 min; the Kruskal-Wallis H test showed a significant difference only at 10 min (p=0.019) but not at 2 min (p=0.29) in the ranking analyses. The intolerant (gagged, heaved or vomited) response rates within the 10 min study period were apple 3/72 (4%), watermelon 7/72 (10%), crackers 8/72 (11%) and white bread 12/72 (17%): χ test for trend p=0.02.

CONCLUSION

Sweet apple had the highest agreeability score, the lowest nausea severity and intolerance-emesis response rate when tasted by women with HG. White bread consistently performed worst.