Awareness, Knowledge and Practice Patterns of Oral Health and Hygiene among Speech-Language Pathologists in India.

Individuals with communication and swallowing disorders often exhibit poor oral health and hygiene (OHH), that can lead to further complications. OHH assessment and management is a part of scope of practice of Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs). The study aims to determine the level of awareness, knowledge and practice patterns of OHH amongst the SLPs in India. A questionnaire with 20-item and three sections was developed to assess the awareness and knowledge regarding OHH among SLPs. A total of 162 participants responded to the survey. 93.2% participants were aware of the importance of OHH, however 42.6% participants did not feel confident enough to assess the same. A majority (82.7%) agreed that poor OHH can lead to different health complications. 38.8% of the participants responded that they assessed oral health only sometimes and 54.3% reported that they never used any standard screening/assessment tools to assess oral health. Only a very small percentage of participants (28.65%) counselled the patients for maintenance of oral hygiene and more than 40% never recommended appropriate OHH practices during management. Though a vast majority were aware of the importance of OHH and consequences of poor OHH, they did not feel confident and consequently did not incorporate OHH during clinical practice. Though the scope of SLP includes oral care assessment and management, Indian SLPs were not practicing this. Hence, the clinical and academic curriculum should focus on topics pertaining to oral health assessment and management, which will improve the quality-of-service delivery of the SLPs.

Prevalence of Occupational Voice Disorder Among Teachers of Kathmandu District, Nepal.

The objective of this research was to identify the prevalence of voice disorders among teachers in the Kathmandu District of Nepal, with an emphasis on identifying possible risk factors that may be associated with these disorders. A cross-sectional study design was used, with both quantitative and qualitative data-gathering techniques using a mixed-methods approach. Data were collected from 95 non-teachers and 194 participating teachers from different schools in Kathmandu Valley. The analysis covered self-reported voice problem prevalence, job details, and demographic data. We examined the relationships between several variables and voice issues, including gender, class size, length of instruction, and tobacco usage. Findings: Compared with nonteachers (33.7%), teachers had a considerably greater prevalence of voice issues (69.1%). Greater class size and more than ten years of teaching experience were shown to be risk factors, while female instructors reported a greater prevalence of voice issues. Additionally, it was shown that instructors' voice issues are also linked to tobacco usage. The results of this study highlight how critical it is to provide voice therapy to educators employed in the Kathmandu District, particularly those in at-risk categories such as female instructors, more experienced educators, and educators with larger class sizes. The outcomes demonstrated important impacts on teacher well-being, job satisfaction, and academic achievement. More research and intervention strategies are needed to minimize the effects of voice problems and promote a positive teaching and learning environment.

Comparison of Oropharyngeal Efficiency Between Two Popular Brands of Marie Biscuits.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the study was to compare four measures of TOMASS (number of bites, number of masticatory cycles, number of swallowing and total time taken) across brands of Marie biscuits and gender. METHODOLOGY: The study employed a cross-sectional design with nonrandomized convenience sampling. A total of 60 participants (30 females and 30 males) were recruited for the study in the age range of 18 to 26 years. Prior to enrolment in the study, the participants were screened for potential speech and swallowing issues. Two commercially available crackers (biscuits) in India, Sunfeast Marie Light and Britannia Marie Gold were used. Video recordings of the participants eating the biscuits were analyzed to document four measures of TOMASS. RESULTS: The mean values obtained on all the measures for males were lesser than mean values for females for both the biscuits. Mann-Whitney U test revealed a statistically significant difference across number of swallows and total time taken across gender. There were no significant differences across biscuits on the four TOMASS measures. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the TOMASS measures were near similar for both brands of Marie biscuits. Thus, any of these two brands of Marie could be used for clinical swallow evaluation. However, gender needs to be kept in mind, while interpreting the results of TOMASS. Future studies need to be conducted with other brands of Marie biscuit and in other age groups.

Acquired childhood aphasia as a consequence of COVID-19 and its differential diagnosis from speech-language pathologist perspective: A case study.

It is essential to be more vigilant in understanding impact of COVID-19 on children's speech and language skills. As studies in these lines are very sparse, it is imperative to profile these children and derive accurate diagnosis. Accurate diagnosis aids Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) to render speech and Language therapy systematically.

Challenges in Delivering Tele-Practice Services for Communication Disorders Among Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists.

Outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has affected immensely the service delivery to patients with communication disorders. Tele-rehabilitation has become a new norm for the service in the field of speech and hearing. Daily challenges in service delivery are widely being reported. The objective of study is to highlight challenges faced by Audiologists and Speech Language pathologists during tele-practice. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out through a web-based questionnaire regarding challenges faced by Audiologists & Speech Language Pathologists, and their perspectives towards tele-practice was compared. Total of 18 questions were divided into three sections. Section I included questions regarding training related to tele-practice, types of cases being handled, etc. Section II comprised of questions related to tele-therapy resources and section III had questions related to evaluation and treatment by tele-mode. 118 participants (47% Postgraduate students, 29% undergraduate students and 24% Professionals) participated in the study. Only 16.1% of the clinicians were trained formally for service delivery via tele-mode. All the participants reported child language disorders, difficult to handle during sessions. Participants reported lack of evidence based tele resources for the use during their practice and also stated difficulty assessing and intervening clients via tele-mode. Results show telerehabilitation is being widely used. Challenges faced by Audiologists and Speech language pathologists are difficulty handling paediatric population, lack of evidence-based tele-resources, and difficulty in evaluation & management of the patients. Effective training regarding tele practice is the need of current scenario. Future research on developing evidence- based resources is emphasized.

Development and Standardization of Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adult (Screening Version) in Nepali Language.

Hearing handicap inventory for adult- screening version (HHIA-S) is one of the widely used questionnaire for assessing hearing handicap among adult population over the short period of time. This questionnaire has been translated in many languages worldwide including Indian, Sweden, and Spanish. However, there is lack of such questionnaire in Nepali language. Hence, this study is aimed at developing and standardizing the HHIA-S questionnaire in Nepali language. The English version of the HHIA-S was translated to the Nepali language using the translation-back-translation method. Further, it was given to 10 native Nepali speakers for content validation. The final HHIA-S Nepali version was then administered to 70 normal native Nepali speakers and 50 hearing impaired Nepali speaker. The responses were analyzed, and Cronbach's alpha was calculated to measure the internal consistency of the questionnaire. Results showed that the HHIA-S Nepali version has a Cronbach's alpha score of 0.94 for normal hearing group and 0.93 for hearing impaired group, which is considered good reliability. The HHIA-S Nepali version developed in this study is found to be valid and reliable. Hence, it can be used as a screening tool for assessing hearing handicap among Nepali population. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-022-03082-5.