Abstract: Objective  A meta-analysis was performed to analyze the risk of taste alteration and to integrate the prevalence of taste alteration in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.  Methods  CNKI, Wanfang Database, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched from the date of database establishment to January 31, 2023 to collect the studies on taste changes in CKD patients. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and evaluated the risk of bias of the included studies. Stata 17.0 software was used for the meta-analysis.  Results  A total of 13 studies were included, including 4,090 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that the risk odds ratio of CKD patient with taste alteration was 6.262 (95% CI 1.556～25.197), and the overall prevalence of taste alteration in CKD patients was 29.6% (ES=0.296, 95% CI 0.209～0.390). The incidence of taste alteration was 33.5% (ES=0.335, 95% CI 0.285～0.386) in patients with eGFR＜20ml/min/1.73m2, and was 20.0% (ES=0.200, 95% CI 0.047～0.353) in patients with eGFR≥20ml/min/1.73m2. The incidence of taste alteration was 43.3% (ES=0.433, 95% CI -0.058～0.923) screening by objective assessment tools, and was 27.9% (ES=0.279, 95% CI 0.189～0.368) screening by subjective assessment tools. The incidence of taste alteration was 46.4% (ES=0.464, 95% CI 0.125～0.802) reported in developing countries, and was 23.6% (ES=0.236, 95% CI 0.148～0.324) reported in developed countries. Integration of the literature showed that age, sex, nutrition-related blood biochemical markers and gastrointestinal symptoms were related to taste alteration.  Conclusion  CKD patients have a high risk of taste alteration. The reported rate increases with disease progression, and is significant different among countries with different economic levels. The taste alteration affects eating, nutrition, digestion, and others. Clinical evaluation of the taste changes should be carried out by combining subjective and objective assessment tools, especially focusing on the elderly, women and potentially malnourished people, to early identify and intervene the taste changes.

Key words: Chronic kidney disease, Taste alteration, Assessment tool