Women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy were scored by use of the “gold standard” Rhodes' score, which includes 8 items. The Rhodes' score was compared with several short versions of 3 to 4 items. Patients were subsequently followed up a week later to monitor changes in scores. Changes in the Rhodes' scores were correlated with changes in the simplified scores.
There was a very tight correlation between the Rhodes' score and the new pregnancy-unique quantification of emesis and nausea (PUQE) scoring system, which was based on the 3 items that included the number of daily vomiting episodes, the length of nausea per day in hours, and the number of retching episodes (r = 0.904; P < .0001). The distribution of severity of cases (between none, mild, moderate, and severe) did not differ between the Rhodes' and the PUQE. Comparing the changes in Rhodes' scores after a week of follow-up versus changes in the new PUQE score, there was a very high agreement (r = 0.95; P<.0001).
The new PUQE score yields similar results to the gold standard, but more cumbersome, Rhode's score. Clinicians and researchers can easily use PUQE.