A Survey of Speech-Language-Hearing Therapists' Career Situation and Challenges in Mainland China.

AIMS: The aim of this survey was to investigate the background of speech-language pathologists and their training needs to provide a profile of the current state of the profession in Mainland China.

METHODS: A survey was conducted of 293 speech-language therapists. The questionnaire used asked questions related to their career background and had a 24-item ranking scale covering almost all of the common speech-language-hearing disorders. A summary of the raw data was constructed by calculating the average ranking score for each answer choice in order to determine the academic training needs with the highest preference among the respondents.

RESULTS: The majority of respondents were female, <35 years old and with a total service time of <5 years. More than three quarters of the training needs with the highest preference among the 24 items involved basic-level knowledge of common speech-language-hearing disorders, such as diagnosis, assessment and conventional treatment, but seldom specific advanced technology or current progress.

CONCLUSION: The results revealed that speech-language therapists in Mainland China tend to be young, with little total working experience and at the first stage of their career. This may be due to the lack of systematic educational programs and national certification systems for speech-language therapists.