Work

Self‐Administered Taste Testing Without Water: Normative Data for the 53‐Item Waterless Empirical Taste Test (WETT)

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), more than 20 million Americans suffer from chronic taste problems. Unfortunately, quantitative testing is rarely performed, self-reports are inaccurate, and "taste" is often confused with olfaction-dependent flavors. Clearly, a reliable, practical, and norm-based clinical taste test is sorely needed. METHODS: The recently developed 53-item Waterless Empirical Taste Test (WETT) was self-administered by 1392 healthy subjects (493 men and 899 women) spanning the ages of 10-94. Normative percentile ranks were developed, and the influences of sex, age, COVID-19 infection history, and smoking behavior were evaluated using general linear models. RESULTS: On average, WETT scores declined with age beginning in the 30s and were lower in men than in women (ps < 0.0001), with the sex difference most apparent between 40 and 70 years of age. Subtest scores for the five basic taste qualities followed similar age- and sex-related patterns. No influences of COVID-19 history were evident. Smokers had lower salty (NaCl) and bitter (caffeine) WETT scores than nonsmokers. The developed normative tables make it possible to determine a patient's absolute dysfunction score as well as a relative score based on age- and sex-related percentiles. CONCLUSION: This study provides normative data based on 1392 healthy subjects for interpreting a patient's performance on a reliable self-administered taste test that requires no liquid stimuli or rinses. Its findings support the view that both sex and age are significant determinants of taste function in the general population.

Source: International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

DOI: 10.1002/alr.23587

Authors: Richard L. Doty, Ryan Sharetts, Shima T. Moein

Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, Sensonics International (United States)

Language: English

Topic: Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies

Subfield: Sensory Systems

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,100