TQ-PAL Development and Validation

Altered Taste

neoplasm

Taste problems are common among patients with advanced cancer. These symptoms can affect the pleasure of eating and drinking, reduce dietary intake, cause low mood, and a lower quality of life. There is no validated tool to assess taste disturbances and their impact on patients with advanced cancer. This study will develop and validate a novel assessment tool to assess taste disturbances and their impact on patients with advanced cancer.

Patients with advanced cancer often develop taste disturbances. A recent literature review reported a median prevalence of 55%, with prevalence ranging from 27-93%. Studies have shown taste disturbance is usually a persistent symptom, is often 'moderate-to-severe' in intensity, and is often associated with significant distress. Taste disturbance may have a major impact on the experience and pleasure associated with eating and drinking. Taste disturbance may have a major impact on nutritional intake. It may be associated with low mood / depression, social isolation, and an impaired quality of life. The aforementioned literature review identified, importantly, that the terminology used in the published literature varied, which may have had an effect on the results obtained, especially prevalence statistics. The review identified the need for development/validation studies of a taste-specific assessment tool for this group of patients - there is a need for a tool that not only assesses the problem but can also assess the response to treatment for the problem, utilising patient reported outcome measures.

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