Agreement between telehealth and face-to-face assessment of intellectual ability in children with specific learning disorder

• DOI: 10.1177/1357633x18776095
• Publication Date: 2018-06-07T06:14:42Z
• Authors: Marie Antoinette ...; Rebecca Sutherland; Kelly Jeng; Gillian Bale; Paige Batta; Aine Cambridge; Jeanette Detheridge; Suzi Drevensek; Lynda Edwards; Margaret Everett; Kalaichelvi Ganes...; Philippa Geier; Carol Kass; Susannah Mathieson; Michael McCabe; Kay Micallef; Kirsty Molomby; Natalie Ong; Silvia Pfeiffer; Sylvia Pope; Francine Tait; Marcia Williamsz; Lynne Young-Dwarte; Natalie Silove
• Keywords: Intelligence Tests; Male; Internet; 05 social sciences; Pilot Projects; Telemedicine; 3. Good health; Cognition; Specific Learning Disorder; Humans; Female; New South Wales; Child; 0503 education

Introduction Access to cognitive assessments for children living remotely is limited. Telehealth represents a potential cost- and time-effective solution. A pilot study was conducted to determine the feasibility of telehealth to assess cognitive function in children with learning difficulties. Methods Thirty-three children (median age = 9 years 11 months), recruited from the New South Wales (NSW) Centre for Effective Reading, underwent assessment of intellectual ability. Comparisons were made between the intellectual ability index scores obtained by a psychologist sitting face-to-face with the children and another psychologist via telehealth using a web-based platform, Coviu. Results The telehealth administration method yielded comparable results to the face-to-face method. Correlation analyses showed high associations between the testing methodologies on the intellectual ability indices (correlation coefficient range = 0.981–0.997). Discussion Findings indicate that telehealth may be an alternative to face-to-face cognitive assessment. Future work in a broader range of cognitive tests and wider range of clinical populations is warranted.