Brochure intervention to manage bothersome taste changes in pediatric patients receiving cancer therapy.

BACKGROUND: Primary objective was to determine if a patient informational brochure describing potentially useful strategies could help manage specific taste changes. Secondary objective was to describe the specific strategies used and whether the strategies were perceived as being helpful. PROCEDURE: This single-center study included pediatric patients with cancer or hematopoietic cell transplant recipients receiving active treatment who experienced bothersome taste changes in the last month. Participants participated in baseline and follow-up interviews conducted 14-21 days apart. A brochure that listed 16 potentially helpful strategies was provided at baseline. At follow-up, we asked about brochure use and whether it helped. At both interviews, we asked about experienced taste changes, strategies used, and whether strategy helped. RESULTS: Of 100 enrolled participants, different (87%) and bad (72%) taste were most common at baseline. Following the brochure intervention, statistically significant reductions were observed in food tasting different, bad, bland, bitter, sour, and metallic. For most strategies, the proportion of patients who used specific strategies or found them helpful was not significantly different between baseline and follow-up. However, "eating foods you like" was considered helpful in significantly more participants who used the strategy in follow-up (72 out of 89, 80.9%) compared with baseline (55 out of 95, 57.9%; p = .008). Between visits, 81.2% looked at the brochure. Among participants, 53.1% found the brochure helpful, very helpful, or extremely helpful. CONCLUSIONS: A brochure that offered strategies to manage changes in taste helped participants cope with them. Further research should evaluate the brochure using randomized and multicenter trials.

Describing taste changes and their potential impacts on paediatric patients receiving cancer treatments.

OBJECTIVES: Taste changes are common among paediatric patients receiving cancer treatments although specific descriptions and associations are uncertain. Primary objective was to describe the number of paediatric patients receiving cancer therapies who experienced taste changes, its impact on food intake and enjoyment of eating, and coping strategies. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study that included English-speaking paediatric patients aged 4-18 years with a diagnosis of cancer or haematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients receiving active treatment. Using a structured interview, we asked participants about their experience with taste changes, impacts and coping strategies. The respondent was the paediatric patient. RESULTS: We enrolled 108 patients; median age was 11 years (IQR 8-15). The taste changes reported yesterday or today were food tasting bland (34%), bad (31%), different (27%), bitter (25%), extreme (19%), metallic (15%) or sour (12%). Taste changes were associated with decreased food intake (31%) and decreased enjoyment in eating (25%) yesterday or today. The most common coping strategies were eating food they liked (42%), eating strong-tasting food (39%), drinking liquids (35%), brushing teeth (31%) and sucking on candy (25%). Factors significantly associated with food tasting bad were as follows: older age (p=0.003), shorter time since cancer diagnosis (p=0.027), nausea and vomiting (p=0.008) and mucositis (p=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Among paediatric patients receiving cancer treatments, taste changes were common and were associated with decreased food intake and enjoyment in eating. Common coping strategies were described. Reducing nausea, vomiting and mucositis may improve taste changes.