TASTE AND SMELL COMPLAINTS IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS

Objectives: To define the scope of taste and smell (chemosensory) comp laints amongst HIV-infected persons in the study population; to evalua te the clinical factors associated with chemosensory complaints; and t o determine the impact of chemosensory complaints on quality of life. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Tertiary care university medi cal center clinic. Participants: A total of 207 HIV-infected patients. Main outcome measures: Chemosensory complaint score from taste and sm ell questionnaire and quality of life scores from the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV). Results: A total of 144 patients ( 70%) reported chemosensory complaints, 91 (44%) reported both taste an d smell complaints, 47 (23%) reported only taste complaints, and six ( 3%) reported only smell complaints. Many patients complained that drug s interfered with their sense of taste, or that medications tasted bad . Higher chemosensory complaint scores were associated with a greater number of medications taken, tobacco use, and hay fever. Patients with chemosensory complaints had significantly lower scores in all domains of the MOS-HIV than those without complaints. Quality of life as meas ured by the MOS-HIV was lower in patients with chemosensory complaints even after controlling for number of AIDS diagnoses, number of medica tions, CD4 cell count, and HIV-1 viral load. Conclusions: Chemosensory complaints were common in the patient population and were associated with a poor quality of life. Medications played an important role in c hemosensory complaints. Measures to optimize taste and smell function may improve quality of life and medication adherence, and prevent comp lications such as inadequate oral intake, malnutrition, weight loss, a nd ultimately wasting. (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.