Measuring taste acceptance in neurologically impaired adults

摘要

Neurologically impaired adults frequently complain or refuse to eat their recommended therapeutic diets due to poor taste acceptance. This study compared the ease of use and pattern of taste acceptance of the 9-point Quartermaster hedonic scale and Cued Facial Scale (CuFS), a scale developed to compensate for neurologic problems, among three groups (older control, nursing home, and hospital). Nursing home residents required more assistance than the control or hospital group to use the 9-point Quartermaster hedonic scale compared to CuFS. The hedonic scale required less time to complete than CuFS for all groups and was better in tracking taste acceptance changes as a function of acid concentration. However, both scales tracked sweetness and acceptance similarly. Medical personnel should screen neurologically impaired individuals to assess whether they possess the skills to use the hedonic scale. If not, they should pretest the individual's ability to use CuFS, an alternative to the hedonic scale.