A prospective study with a control group would
help clarify the relationship between taste dysfunction
and time. In addition, a repeated measure may
help determine why participants confused bitter, sour,
and salty tastes in the current study. For example, if
participants were tested on each taste modality twice
during the sensory assessment and identified the lowconcentration
bitter sample as sour both times, it would
help clarify whether participants were guessing to
determine taste modality. Future research should focus
on means to more accurately screen for taste dysfunction;
more importantly, such tools should be simple to
implement in the clinical setting.