title: Telemedicine as a means of effective speech evaluation for patients with cleft palate.
abstract: Providing long-term multidisciplinary care for cleft lip/palate is a challenge for international humanitarian organizations that perform surgery across borders. The use of telemedicine as a means of evaluating speech in patients with cleft lip/palate has not been studied previously. We looked at determining whether a speech evaluation performed by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) using telemedicine would be equivalent to a speech evaluation performed in-person, in an international setting between Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, CA. Spanish-speaking SLPs developed an informal protocol to evaluate several speech characteristics. Patients were simultaneously evaluated by 2 SLPs, one in-person in Tijuana and the other over telemedicine videoconference from San Diego, CA. In addition, we obtained data regarding the parents experience with telemedicine through a satisfaction survey. Results showed no statistically significant differences between the 2 methods of speech evaluation, particularly in oral muscle tone, resonance, lingual lateralization, oral pressure, and dentition. The satisfaction survey showed family satisfaction with the speech evaluation performed using telemedicine. Thus, telemedicine represents an effective medium for conducting speech assessment in patients with cleft lip/palate, allowing for increased access to care for underserved populations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plastic Surgery, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA. whitehead.elizabeth@gmail.com
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dorfman
authors.forename: Glendora
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tremper
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sigler
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gosman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D008800:Mexico; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011786:Quality Control; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013070:Speech Therapy / Q000379:methods; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016896:Treatment Outcome