Self-Care Strategies to Cope With Taste Changes After Chemotherapy

Abstract

Mary Lappe, RN, BSN, OCN® [Oncology nurse clinician]Oncology Specialists, S.C AbstractPurpose/Objectives-To describe factors related to taste changes, to examine patients' use of a self-care suggestion sheet to manage taste changes associated with chemotherapy, and to identify potentially useful strategies for managing specific taste changes after chemotherapy.Design-Quasi-experimental, pre/post design. Setting-Four outpatient urban and suburban oncology centers in Illinois.Sample-42 patients who had received at least two cycles of chemotherapy previously identified to be associated with taste changes.Methods-Pre-and postintervention survey of taste changes; patient education regarding self-care for taste changes.Main Research Variables-Taste changes, taste change strategies, and self-care.Findings-Most patients that reported taste changes had affected their ability to eat. Taste changes and strategies varied somewhat according to chemotherapy regimen. Avoiding strong-smelling ortasting foods, eating blander foods, drinking more water with foods, oral care before eating, and eating smaller, more frequent meals were reported to help.Conclusions-Taste changes are common in patients receiving cisplatin, carboplatin, or cyclophosphamide. At-risk patients may benefit from prechemotherapy teaching regarding specific taste change management suggestions. Use of a taste change suggestion sheet encouraged self-care, No financial relationships to disclose. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptOncol Nurs Forum. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 June 29. Published in final edited form as:Oncol Nurs Forum. 2009 March ; 36(2): E47-E56. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript and counseling patients regarding strategies to deal with taste changes may help them during chemotherapy.Implications for Nursing-Nurses should incorporate patient education tools that promote selfcare regarding the management of taste changes in patients with known factors that could affect taste early in their chemotherapy.Chemotherapy agents can cause a wide range of adverse effects. One such cluster of manifestations that has gained greater attention in the literature is taste changes, which typically are described by severity, distress, and effects on usual activities. For instance, 38%-77% of patients with cancer have reported significant taste changes after receiving chemotherapy

Metallic Taste in Cancer Patients Treated with Systemic Therapy: A Questionnaire-based Study

“…Previous studies have shown a prevalence of metallic taste in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy ranging from 10% to 78% (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). Also, metallic taste in patients treated with radiotherapy has been reported previously (23).…”

Management of Dysgeusia related to Cancer

“…Seven out to 12 studies used previously studied, validated standardized tool to find out the taste change and improvement; four of them used objective, close ended questions to find out the improvement with a given treatment or strategy. Most of the studies included patients with chemotherapy, [20,26,[30][31][32][33][34][35] some of the studies were confined to radiotherapy, [3,24,28] and a few studied the patients receiving a combination of treatment. [29] Amongst these, the most common chemotherapeutic agent was carboplatin and oxyplatin but, most of them used various chemotherapeutic agents.…”

“…[3,20,26,27] Two studies were cross sectional studies, [30,31] and there were three prospective longitudinal studies, [32][33][34] one was a case study, [34] and another one quasi experimental study. [35] Sample size ranged from two to 531, with commonest diagnosis of head and neck cancer followed by breast cancer, lung cancer, gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, and a wide range of other cancer diagnosis. Seven out to 12 studies used previously studied, validated standardized tool to find out the taste change and improvement; four of them used objective, close ended questions to find out the improvement with a given treatment or strategy.…”

“…The degree of taste change depended upon the type of cancer and its treatment. [11,35,[38][39][40] The prevalence among the patient receiving a combination of both radiotherapy and chemotherapy was 76%, radiotherapy only was 66.5%, radiotherapy of head and neck cancer was 55 to 88%, after completion of radiotherapy continue dysgeusia was 15% and chemotherapy only was 56.3%. [10,18,[41][42][43][44] Most of the studies were done in head and neck cancer and breast cancer but it is not possible from this review to conclude which cancer or treatment regimen has more effect on taste.…”

“…The degree of taste change depended upon the type of cancer and its treatment. [11,35,[38][39][40] The prevalence among the patient receiving a combination of both radiotherapy and chemotherapy was 76%, radiotherapy only…”