Taste Disorders: Effect of Education in Patients With Breast Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy

Background: For patients with breast cancer treated with certain chemotherapy regimens, taste disorders associated with those regimens can negatively affect quality of life.

Objectives: This study evaluated the effects of taste disorder-related education on meal satisfaction and sense of taste in Japanese women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

Methods: A sample of 53 newly diagnosed women with breast cancer scheduled for chemotherapy treatment were randomly assigned to the control or intervention (nurse-provided education about chemotherapy-associated taste disorders) group. Meal satisfaction and sense of taste were assessed using a visual analog scale.

Findings: The proportions of patients with meal dissatisfaction and impaired sense of taste were lower in the intervention group than in the control group. Although meal dissatisfaction and impaired sense of taste recovered in the intervention group two months after protocol completion, they did not recover in the control group. Providing education to women with breast cancer scheduled for chemotherapy treatment can affect patients' experience of treatment-associated taste disorders.

Keywords: breast cancer; chemotherapy; education; quality of life; taste disorders.