Perception of Taste and Smell in Sitting and Standing Posture among Healthy Individuals: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Taste and smell are vital senses interlinked to each other that stimulate the desire to eat food. The physiological stress of a standing posture might alter taste and smell sensitivity, compelling individuals to eat more until satiety is achieved. Aim: To determine and compare the perception of taste and smell in sitting and standing postures among healthy individuals. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the physiology laboratory of Velammal Medical College, Tamil Nadu, India, over a duration of two months from February 2021 to April 2021. The study included 100 medical students (both genders) aged between 18-21 years. For taste assessment, the Sip spit rinse test was performed, where taste strips were impregnated with sweet and salty solutions of different concentrations (0.05-0.00625 g/mL). Odour threshold was measured with various dilutions of rose water (1:10000 to 1:1) using olfactometer. Taste and smell thresholds in standing and sitting postures were analysed using the Paired sample T-test and Lin’s concordance test, using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 A significance level of 0.05 was used to interpret the p-value. Results: A statistically significant difference (p<0.001**) was observed for taste threshold, with a higher mean value in the standing position (0.0108) compared to the sitting position (0.0086). No statistically significant difference was observed for olfactory threshold in both sitting and standing postures (p>0.05). Additionally, no significant gender difference was found for taste and smell threshold values (p=0.418). Conclusion: Standing posture decreases taste sensitivity with no significant change in olfactory sensitivity