Taste Alteration in Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to investigate nutrition in cancer patients, chemotherapy-induced taste alterations andthe factors affecting these taste alterations.METHODSThis study was planned as a cross-sectional study. Patients who had received chemotherapy at least onceand had been on chemotherapy for the last 7-10 days (n=112) were included in this study. The data werecollected using the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment, the National Cancer Institute’sCommon Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events and the Chemotherapy-induced Taste AlterationScale (CiTAS).RESULTSThe CiTAS score was higher in female cancer patients. Patients with nausea 2.19 (SD=1.00) and vomiting 3.13 (SD=1.21) had higher scores on the taste disorder subscale of the CiTAS, while patients withvomiting 3.00 (SD=1.42) had higher scores on the general taste alterations subscale (p