Identifying data elements and key features to design a telerehabilitation system for speech and language disorders in children with hearing impairments in Iran: A cross‐sectional study.

Background and Aims: Designing and implementing telerehabilitation systems would require the identification of data elements to meet disabled people's needs. An in‐depth study on the identification and validation of data elements can help design and implement telerehabilitation systems successfully. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and validate data elements to design a telerehabilitation system for the speech and language disorders of hearing‐impaired children in Iran. Methods: This descriptive cross‐sectional study was conducted in three steps including literature review, focused group discussion, and Delphi technique implementation to extract and validate data elements. In the first step, the literature on electronic databases was reviewed to extract the data elements of telerehabilitation systems, and nine studies were selected based on the inclusion criteria. In the second step, a focused group discussion was held to review and classify the extracted data elements. Finally, the Delphi technique was employed to validate the drafted data elements. Results: In total, 352 data elements were extracted from the literature review. Finally, 102 data elements in 10 categories (Demographic and Clinical information of the disabled person, Clinical history, Demographic information of the provider, Customization of exercises, Reminders, Online and offline counseling, and training, Reporting, Key features of the system, Evaluation of the progress of the disabled person) were classified and validated by experts as essential data elements to design a telerehabilitation system for the speech and language disorders of hearing‐impaired children. Conclusions: The necessary data elements were proposed as the foundations to design a telerehabilitation system for the speech and language disorders of hearing‐impaired children. These data elements help design and implement telerehabilitation systems successfully so that such systems can easily be provided for children with hearing disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]