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Development and Validation of an Online Independent Training Program for TOR-BSST© Dysphagia Screeners

NCT05379699 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 82

Last updated 2026-05-11

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability globally. Dysphagia, swallowing difficulty, is common following stroke, affecting about 55% of all stroke patients. People with stroke and dysphagia are three times more likely to develop pneumonia compared to patients with no dysphagia. Stroke best practice guidelines recommend early identification of dysphagia by bedside testing (called screening) of all patients admitted to hospital with stroke. Our group was the first to develop a screening tool for stroke patients, the Toronto Bedside Swallowing Screening Test (TOR-BSST©). It uses a step-by-step process to identify patients with dysphagia risk. TOR-BSST© screeners are health professionals who have successfully completed a live 4-hr training provided by a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). There is good evidence that this training increases the accuracy of screening. However, a 4-hr live session is not acceptable with limited healthcare resources. Our aim is to evaluate the accuracy of an innovative eLearning program to train TOR-BSST© screeners. If successful, this project will shorten training time, reduce hospital resource burden, and ensure a sustainable dysphagia screening program for people with stroke in all hospitals.

Conditions

Interventions

OTHER

TOR-BSST© eLearning Training

An online self-directed training program for TOR-BSST© dysphagia screeners.

OTHER

Standard TOR-BSST© Training

Standard 4-hour in-person TOR-BSST© screener training conducted by a Speech-Language Pathologist.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Lakeridge Health Corporation

    collaborator OTHER

  • Jewish General Hospital

    collaborator OTHER

  • Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, Red Deer, AB

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • University Health Network, Toronto

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Rosemary Martino, PhD · University Health Network, Toronto

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2020-10-01
Primary Completion
2023-02-15
Completion
2023-02-15

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT05379699 on ClinicalTrials.gov