Catering to patients with Parkinson’s disease: a survey on self-perceived competence and barriers of speech and language pathologists in Malaysia

Smith, Giuditta, Kamarulzaman, Nursabrina Binti, Siau, Ching Sin, Chu, Shin Ying, Woo, Pei Jun, Zhang, Mike Minwen, Yuen, Man-Ching and Garraffa, Maria ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1767-424X (2026) Catering to patients with Parkinson’s disease: a survey on self-perceived competence and barriers of speech and language pathologists in Malaysia. BMJ Open, 16 (6). ISSN 2044-6055

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Abstract

Objective: Referrals to speech and language pathology are infrequent for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), despite speech and communication being often affected and greatly impacting their quality of life. This study investigated the knowledge, self-competence and challenges faced by speech and language pathologists (SLPs) in Malaysia when managing PD cases.  Design: Participants self-administered an online-survey in a cross-sectional study design. The survey consisted of 14 questions on current practices of SLPs with their patients with PD, self-perceived competence when assessing and managing PD and perceived barriers for catering to patients with PD. Inferential statistics were run on self-perceived competence across domains and their relationship with demographic/current practice factors. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse perceived barriers.  Setting: The survey was administered in English through Google Forms.  Participants: 54 Malaysian SLPs with at least one active case of PD in their caseload were invited via email and WhatsApp Messenger. These contacts were obtained from the Speech-Language Therapists Association of Malaysia (SPEAK), and snowball sampling was encouraged to recruit additional SLPs through other social networks.  Primary and secondary outcome measures: To quantify Malaysian SLPs’ self-perceived competence levels (assessed on 5-point Likert scales) in assessing and managing five key domains in patients with PD: speech, language, oro-motor skills, cognition and swallowing; and to identify the frequency and types of barriers encountered in clinical practice with patients with PD through structured multiple-choice questions. Secondary outcomes included quantifying current service delivery patterns (frequency of PD referrals, stage at referral, caseload size), multidisciplinary consultation patterns and confidence levels in managing rehabilitation risks associated with PD, all measured through structured survey items with categorical or ordinal response options.  Results: Most participants had 1–5 patients with PD in their active caseload, referred at a middle or advanced stage of the disease. The majority of participants felt competent in assessing and managing motor speech and language in patients with PD. Conversely, most of them did not feel competent in assessing and managing cognition in these patients, regardless of demographic factors or current practices. This difference was significant. Most participants also reported facing barriers such as health conditions or comorbidities, family expectations on the therapy outcome and the unavailability of a multidisciplinary approach.  Conclusion: The study reveals that SLPs working in Malaysia feel competent in working with motor speech and language in individuals with PD. However, it highlights a need for additional training to address cognitive assessment and management as a crucial tool to boost functional communication in people with PD. The study also reveals a need for promoting a multidisciplinary approach.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ Group. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	health services for the aged,health surveys,parkinson-s disease,speech pathology,general medicine ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2700
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Mental Health and Social Care (fka Lifespan Health)
Related URLs:	https://www.scopus.com/pages/publication...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2026 14:09
Last Modified:	19 Jul 2026 05:35
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103860
DOI:	10.1136/bmjopen-2025-106250

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