Taste Assessment Protocol: A New Simple Way of Testing Taste.

Background: The objective of this work was to describe a simple, economical, and reproducible method for taste evaluation. Methods: A new protocol called Taste Assessment Protocol was created using different concentrations of sweet, salty, bitter, and sour solutions. The test was applied to participants complaining of persistent olfactory-gustatory complaints after coronavirus disease 2019 diagnosis. Results: Ten participants were included. The mean Taste Assessment Protocol score was 10.75 ± 1.2, with a recorded minimum of 8 and a recorded maximum of 12. Ninety percent of the patients had a Taste Assessment Protocol score ≥ 10. The mean olfactory threshold of the observed patients was 3.5 ± 1.7, with a registered minimum of 2 and a maximum of 6. Conclusion: Tests like this may persuade researchers and clinicians to assess taste more regularly. Validation of this method could bring light to a standardized and easily applicable taste test, with a well-defined score. Taste assessment by this method suggests that gustatory dysfunction after coronavirus disease 2019 may be due to retronasal olfactory dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]