PD042 - WHEN THE TONGUE MISLEADS THE BRAIN: TASTE MISIDENTIFICATION ASSESSED BY TASENS

PD042

WHEN THE TONGUE MISLEADS THE BRAIN: TASTE MISIDENTIFICATION ASSESSED BY TASENS

V. Blanař^1,*, J. Pospíchal¹, K. Papáčková¹, D. Eglseer², P. Brothánková¹, J. Vodička¹, S. Bauer²

¹Faculty of Health Studies, University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic, ²Institute of Nursing and Health Sciences, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Rationale: The most common approach to the assessment of taste disorders focuses on quantitative disturbances, characterized by changes in the intensity of taste perception. However, qualitative disorders—particularly incorrect identification and substitution with another taste (parageusia)—are often overlooked. This disorder may lead patients to changes in dietary habits and undesirable preferences, such as increased consumption of sweet, salt, or fats. The aim of this study is to describe taste misidentifications assessed by TASENS.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of data obtained from taste testing using the TASENS dry method (results ranges 0 – 24 points/correctly identified tastes) in four groups of respondents was performed. The first group consisted of 48 patients after middle ear surgery. Second group comprised 75 hospitalised patients over 70 years of age from Czech and Austrian internal wards. The third group included 44 patients who attended an otorhinolaryngology department due to a subjective taste disorder and the fourth group consisted of 18 healthy controls. Data analysis compared specific taste substitutions i.e., cases in which one taste was mistaken for another.

Results: The mean TASENS score was 17 points in the post–ear surgery group, 16 points in the geriatric patient group, 17 points in the group with subjective taste disorder, and 21.7 points in the control group. The most frequent identification errors occurred between salty and sour tastes in both directions, i.e., salty perceived as sour and sour perceived as salty among all groups.

Conclusion: Taste dysfunction often reflects misinterpretation of gustatory signals rather than reduced sensitivity alone. Frequent salty–sour confusions may suggest altered central taste processing. TASENS enables detection of qualitative taste disorders that may influence dietary behaviour, especially in older adults.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared