Characteristics of 2278 patients visiting the Nihon University Hospital Taste Clinic over a 10-year period with special reference to age and sex distributions.

We investigated the incidence of taste disorders in 2278 patients (871 men, 1407 women) who visited our Taste and Smell Clinic during the 10-year period between 1981 and 1990. Although a higher proportion of our patients were women, there was a significant gender difference only in the proportion of women with mild symptoms; the proportions of men and women with moderate or severe taste disorders were not significantly different. We propose that the incidence of taste disorders is the same among men and women but that women with milder symptoms are more likely to seek treatment. The time from onset of symptoms to the first clinic visit lengthened with increasing patient age. The efficacy of treatment decreased with increasing patient age, regardless of the severity of taste disorder at the initial visit.