Taste dysfunction has been associated with aging and is therefore thought to be less common in children. However, children can face medical conditions influencing their taste function. Measuring and understanding taste dysfunction in children may foster the development of treatments/interventions mitigating the detrimental effects of taste dysfunction on children’s appetite and quality of life. But measuring loss of taste function requires adequate tools. This review was conducted to 1) provide an overview of etiologies (i.e., disease and iatrogenic) associated with taste dysfunction in a pediatric population; 2) to investigate which tools (psychophysical tests and questionnaires) are available to assess taste function in children; and 3) to identify what tools can be and are actually used in clinical practice. It is concluded that only a minority of available tools to assess taste function in children are readily suitable for a pediatric clinical setting. Considering the profound impact of taste dysfunction in the pediatric setting, developing, and implementing a standard taste test that is sensitive, simple, and practical to use with children is pertinent.

中文翻译：

---

儿童味觉功能障碍——评估方法的临床观点和回顾

味觉功能障碍与衰老有关，因此被认为在儿童中不太常见。然而，儿童可能会面临影响其味觉功能的医疗条件。测量和了解儿童的味觉功能障碍可以促进治疗/干预措施的发展，以减轻味觉功能障碍对儿童食欲和生活质量的不利影响。但是测量味觉功能的丧失需要足够的工具。本综述旨在 1) 概述与儿科人群中味觉功能障碍相关的病因（即疾病和医源性）；2）调查哪些工具（心理物理测试和问卷）可用于评估儿童的味觉功能；3) 确定在临床实践中可以使用和实际使用的工具。得出的结论是，只有少数评估儿童味觉功能的可用工具很容易适用于儿科临床环境。考虑到味觉功能障碍在儿科环境中的深远影响，开发和实施对儿童使用的敏感、简单和实用的标准味觉测试是相关的。