Taste acuity in institutionalized and noninstitutionalized elderly men.
Taste detection thresholds were determined in young men (18 to 25 years of age, n = 15), noninstitutionalized elderly men (63 to 88 years of age, n = 17), and institutionalized elderly men (61 to 92 years of age, n = 15). The technical procedure utilized a single blind format. The tastants were presented to the subjects in a multiple forced-choice sample presentation with an ascending series. Additional testing conditions included adequate oral hygiene, 10 ml of tastant, timed intervals, and deionized water rinses. The major findings were that sour, salt, and bitter thresholds increased with age. Sweet threshold did not change with age. The institutionalized elderly men had significantly higher sour detection thresholds when compared with the noninstitutionalized elderly men. The use of salt and tobacco had no apparent effect on detection thresholds for sweet, salt and bitter, but medication ingestion elevated the sour thresholds. Elderly subjects on antihypertensive medications had significantly higher salt detection thresholds.
Spitzer
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Veterans Administration Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT 84148.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D013652:Taste Threshold / Q000502:physiology*