Assessment practices of speech-language pathologists for cognitive communication disorders following traumatic brain injury in adults: An international survey

TLDR

The study aimed to examine current assessment practices of SLPs for adults with cognitive communication impairments after TBI and to highlight the need for research on supporting evidence‑based tool use. A cross‑national online survey of 265 SLPs from the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand collected data on which communication domains and assessment tools were routinely used, revealing that functional communication was assessed by 78.8 % while discourse and other domains were less common. Results showed that service country and setting influenced tool choice, raising concerns about the statistical validity and reliability of current assessments and underscoring the need for broader training.

Abstract

This study's objective was to examine the current assessment practices of SLPs working with adults with acquired cognitive communication impairments following a TBI.Two hundred and sixty-five SLPs from the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand responded to the online survey stating the areas of communication frequently assessed and the assessment tools they use.SLPs reported that they routinely assessed functional communication (78.8%), whereas domains such as discourse were routinely assessed by less than half of the group (44.3%). Clinicians used aphasia and cognitive communication/high level language tools and tools assessing functional performance, discourse, pragmatic skills or informal assessments were used by less than 10% of the group. The country and setting of service delivery influenced choice of assessment tools used in clinical practice.These findings have implications for training of SLPs in a more diverse range of assessment tools for this clinical group. The findings raise questions regarding the statistical validity and reliability of assessments currently used in clinical practice. It highlights the need for further research into how SLPs can be supported in translating current evidence about the use of assessment tools into clinical practice.