A feasibility study of teleassessment for people with aphasia in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait

Purpose The outbreak of COVID-19 impacted the delivery of outpatient services by various healthcare systems, including speech and language therapy services for people with aphasia (PWA). One possible solution here is telepractice (TP). Previous studies have shown TP to be comparable to the traditional face-to-face (FTF) delivery method for the assessment of PWA. However, these studies have largely been conducted in Western, English-speaking countries. This study evaluates the feasibility of TP to assess PWA using the Short Aphasia Test for Gulf Arabic speakers (SATG). Method The feasibility study adopted a within-subject cross-over study design, involving 19 individuals with post-stroke aphasia aged 25-64. Each participant was assessed twice using the SATG, once with each delivery method (FTF and TP) and the scores were compared. We collected a number of feasibility measures, including a comparison of the scores for FTF and TP. Anecdotal cultural influences on participant preferences for TP were noted by researchers. Results The Wilcoxon rank-sum tests showed a non-significant difference between the two methods in the overall scores and the subsection scores, except for the auditory comprehension task which showed significantly lower scores for TP delivery. High satisfaction with TP was reported, and practical considerations for implementing TP are discussed. Conclusion This study provides evidence of the feasibility of adopting TP to assess PWA in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and highlights the influence of cultural aspects on the use of videoconferencing. Participants reported a preference for some FTF contact to support setting up TP and prior to the first TP session.