Validation of the clinical applicability of the brief self-administered waterless empirical taste test during the era of COVID-19

This study was performed to test the clinical applicability of a new taste test, the Brief Self-Administered Waterless Empirical Taste Test (B-WETT) in the era of COVID-19. METHODS: Sixty healthy volunteers and 60 patients experiencing gustatory dysfunction were enrolled. All subjects received both the Self-Administered WETT and the new B-WETT which are comprised of disposable plastic strips containing sucrose, citric acid, sodium chloride, caffeine, and monosodium glutamate tastants to evaluate taste function. The healthy volunteers were re-tested with the WETT and B-WETT after an inter-test interval of at least 7 days to measure retest reliability. RESULTS: The sum scores of five tastants of the first test were 25.7 for males and 29.5 for females in WETT, and 12.4 for males and 15.2 for females in B-WETT. There were significant differences in the sum scores between males and females whether in WETT or B-WETT. The sum scores strongly correlated between WETT and B-WETT, whether in healthy volunteers or in patients with gustatory dysfunction (r >0.7). There was also a strong correlation between the first and second tests of B-WETT for the sum scores. CONCLUSION: This study shows that B-WETT is a valid and reliable taste test, and is convenient for use in the era of COVID-19 to evaluate the taste function of patients.