Patient Preference and Adherence (Jul 2023)
Comparisons of Clients’ and Caregivers’ Satisfaction Across Conventional, Virtual, and Hybrid Speech-Language Therapy Services in Malaysia
Abstract
Fatimah Hani Hassan,* Anis Syazwani Zakaria,* Yazmin Ahmad Rusli, Siti Munirah Haris, Hafizah Mohd Azraai Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Fatimah Hani Hassan, Speech Sciences Program, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Temerloh, Kuala Lumpur, 53200, Malaysia, Tel +60392895014, Email [email protected]: This study compared the satisfaction of recipients of conventional speech-language therapy (C-SLT), speech-language teletherapy (SLTT), and hybrid speech-language therapy (H-SLT), and determined sociodemographic factors that affect their satisfaction.Patients and Methods: Participants were clients and caregivers of a speech-language clinic at a public university. Services were primarily provided by student clinicians, who were undergoing supervised clinical training. An online survey was distributed, which consisted of three sections: Background Information, Overall Satisfaction in SLT, and Satisfaction in SLTT. All participants completed the first two sections, while the third section was completed only by those who experienced SLTT or H-SLT.Results: Most of the respondents were caregivers (89.7%), female (79.4%), of Malay ethnicity (80.9%), have received tertiary education (77.9%), within the low-income category (66.2%), held a job (76.5%), and resided in central West Malaysia (83.8%). Many participants experienced C-SLT (51%), followed by H-SLT (34%), and SLTT (15%). There were no significant differences in the overall satisfaction of the participants across three modes of services delivery (F[2,67] = 0.02, p = 0.95), and in the satisfaction with teletherapy between the H-SLT and SLTT groups (t = 0.90, p = 0.38). Income was the only sociodemographic factor that was correlated with the satisfaction level in teletherapy (r = 0.37, p = 0.04).Keywords: communication disorders, patients’ experience, telerehabilitation, university training
