Correction: Telehealth Education in Allied Health Care and Nursing: Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey of Students' Perceived Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Experience.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2196/51112.].

Telehealth Education in Allied Health Care and Nursing: Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey of Students' Perceived Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Experience.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the growing relevance of telehealth in health care. Assessing health care and nursing students' telehealth competencies is crucial for its successful integration into education and practice. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess students' perceived telehealth knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences. In addition, we aimed to examine students' preferences for telehealth content and teaching methods within their curricula. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional web-based study in May 2022. A project-specific questionnaire, developed and refined through iterative feedback and face-validity testing, addressed topics such as demographics, personal perceptions, and professional experience with telehealth and solicited input on potential telehealth course content. Statistical analyses were conducted on surveys with at least a 50% completion rate, including descriptive statistics of categorical variables, graphical representation of results, and Kruskal Wallis tests for central tendencies in subgroup analyses. RESULTS: A total of 261 students from 7 bachelor's and 4 master's health care and nursing programs participated in the study. Most students expressed interest in telehealth (180/261, 69% very or rather interested) and recognized its importance in their education (215/261, 82.4% very or rather important). However, most participants reported limited knowledge of telehealth applications concerning their profession (only 7/261, 2.7% stated profound knowledge) and limited active telehealth experience with various telehealth applications (between 18/261, 6.9% and 63/261, 24.1%). Statistically significant differences were found between study programs regarding telehealth interest (P=.005), knowledge (P<.001), perceived importance in education (P<.001), and perceived relevance after the pandemic (P=.004). Practical training with devices, software, and apps and telehealth case examples with various patient groups were perceived as most important for integration in future curricula. Most students preferred both interdisciplinary and program-specific courses. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes the need to integrate telehealth into health care education curricula, as students state positive telehealth attitudes but seem to be not adequately prepared for its implementation. To optimally prepare future health professionals for the increasing role of telehealth in practice, the results of this study can be considered when designing telehealth curricula.

Validation of a Geriatric Bedside Swallowing Screen (GEBS): Protocol of a Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Demographic changes will raise the need for specialized care of older patients. Oropharyngeal dysphagia has recently been declared a geriatric syndrome reflecting its multifactorial background. Alongside multimorbidity, sarcopenia, frailty, and disability, swallowing disorders increase with advancing age, with prevalence rates reported to be as high as 44% in acute geriatric hospital settings and 80% in long-term care facilities. Hence, systematic screening of older patients to diagnose dysphagia and initiate treatment is of paramount importance to prevent bolus death, aspiration pneumonia, and malnutrition and improve quality of life. Several screening tools have been evaluated in emergency and stroke units. However, no published dysphagia screening tool has been validated in the hospitalized, older adult population using a gold standard in dysphagia diagnostics as a reference test. The validation of the proposed test is a first step. OBJECTIVE: The Geriatric Bedside Swallowing Screen (GEBS) study aims to validate a new screening tool developed specifically for older inpatients against an instrumental swallowing evaluation, the flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES), which is considered a gold standard. Primary outcomes to be evaluated are sensitivity and specificity for the GEBS in the detection of dysphagia in a mixed older adult population. The presence of dysphagia will be defined by an instrumental swallowing evaluation (FEES), analyzed by the standardized penetration-aspiration scale. METHODS: To validate the GEBS, a prospective cohort study will be carried out. Two institutions, an acute geriatric department and a long-term care facility, will aim to recruit a total of 100 patients aged ≥75 years. After giving their informed consent, patients will undergo the full screening protocol described in the GEBS as well as an evaluation of swallowing function using the FEES. Investigators will be blinded to the results of the respective other testing. The analysis of pseudonymized data sets will be done by a third investigator. Outcomes to be considered are sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, positive and negative likelihood quotient, and the reliability of the proposed dysphagia screening tool using the κ coefficient. RESULTS: Recruitment started in October 2022 and will end in April 2024. Data publication is planned for early 2025. CONCLUSIONS: If proven to be a valid screening tool for the early detection of dysphagia, further studies including different older adult populations as well as studies to determine the impact of systematic dysphagia screening on parameters, such as rates of aspiration pneumonia or nutritional status, should be planned. Effective screening of dysphagia will lead to earlier detection of patients with impaired swallowing. Those who fail the screening will be referred to speech language pathology for further diagnosis, thus optimizing care while streamlining personnel resources. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISCRTN Registry ISRCTN11581931; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN11581931. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/46252.