Telepractice for speech-language services with school-aged children: An efficacy study

Abstract

Telepractice has the potential to extend speech-language pathology services to remote and underserved populations; however, current evidence on the efficacy of telepractice for speech-language services is limited. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the efficacy of speech-language telepractice service delivery compared to traditional, face-to-face intervention. A retrospective analysis compared reported standardized scores for children 6-9 years of age, served via telepractice with those served in face-to-face school settings. Each child received 4-9 months of intervention for disordered “speech sound production”. Analysis revealed no significant difference in improvement scores between the face-to-face group (4% improvement, p=.739, 95% CI[.82-1.33]) and the telepractice group after adjusting for age, length of service, and initial score. Each additional month of service was associated with approximately a 4%, p<.016, 95% CI[1.01-1.07]improvement. For school-aged children presenting with disorders of speech sound production, telepractice is a viable mode of service delivery.