Department of Health Information Technology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Department of Health Information Management and Medical Informatics, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2023 Apr 4;23(1):336. doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-09339-1.
Mobile health (mHealth) technology could be used in different ways to treat various speech and language disorders. The attitude of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) towards this technology and their willingness to use it can play a significant role in the success of the therapies they provide. This study was conducted to investigate the willingness and attitude of SLPs towards the use of mHealth technology.
This cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2021 to April 2022 in Iran. A researcher-made questionnaire consisting of three parts (information related to demographic variables, attitude and willingness) was designed based on the past studies, and then given to all SLPs throughout Iran. Data were analyzed by SPSS software, using descriptive and inferential statistics (frequency, mean, Fisher's exact test, and analysis of variance). Also, the SLPs' willingness to use the desired technology was interpreted as a percentage as follows: 0-20% = not at all willing, 21-40% = slightly willing, 41-60% = moderately willing, 61-80% = highly willing, and above 80% = extremely willing.
One hundred sixty speech-language pathologists from all over Iran participated in this study. The results showed that the willingness of 65.25% of SLPs to use the mentioned technology was at a good level, and according to the mentioned category, they had a high willingness to use this technology. In regard to the attitude of SLPs, the findings showed that SLPs believed that patients receive a higher quality of care during in-person visits than through mHealth technology. Also, this survey showed that SLPs were more inclined to use this technology to answer patients' questions. Non-payment of services provided through mHealth technology and privacy concerns were the reasons for the lack of use of this technology by SLPs.
SLPs are willing to use mHealth technology after solving the related challenges, including payment of costs and privacy concerns. However, SLPs believed that this technology will not be a suitable alternative to face-to-face sessions.
移动健康（mHealth）技术可以通过多种方式用于治疗各种言语和语言障碍。言语语言病理学家（SLP）对这项技术的态度及其使用意愿在他们提供的治疗成功中起着重要作用。本研究旨在调查 SLP 使用 mHealth 技术的意愿和态度。
本横断面研究于 2021 年 9 月至 2022 年 4 月在伊朗进行。根据过去的研究设计了一份由三部分组成的研究人员制作的问卷（与人口统计学变量、态度和意愿相关的信息），然后分发给伊朗各地的所有 SLP。使用 SPSS 软件对数据进行分析，采用描述性和推断性统计（频率、平均值、Fisher 确切检验和方差分析）。此外，将 SLP 使用所需技术的意愿解释为以下百分比：0-20%=完全不愿意，21-40%=稍微愿意，41-60%=中度愿意，61-80%=非常愿意，80%以上=极其愿意。
来自伊朗各地的 160 名言语语言病理学家参加了这项研究。结果表明，65.25%的 SLP 使用所述技术的意愿处于良好水平，根据上述类别，他们非常愿意使用这项技术。关于 SLP 的态度，研究结果表明，SLP 认为患者在面对面就诊期间接受的护理质量更高，而不是通过 mHealth 技术。此外，这项调查还表明，SLP 更倾向于使用这项技术来回答患者的问题。不支付通过 mHealth 技术提供的服务和隐私问题是 SLP 不使用这项技术的原因。
SLP 愿意在解决相关挑战后使用 mHealth 技术，包括支付费用和隐私问题。然而，SLP 认为，这项技术不会成为面对面会议的合适替代方案。
