Survey of Continuous EEG Monitoring Practices in the United States

Abstract

Objective: Continuous EEG (cEEG) practice has markedly changed over the last decade given its utility in improving critical care outcomes. However, there are limited data describing the current cEEG infrastructure in US hospitals. Methods: A web-based cEEG practice survey was sent to neurophysiologists at 123 ACGME-accredited epilepsy or clinical neurophysiology programs. Results: Neurophysiologists from 100 (81.3%) institutions completed the survey. Most institutions had 3 to 10 EEG faculty (80.0%), 1 to 5 fellows (74.8%), ≥6 technologists (84.9%), and provided coverage to neurology ICUs with >10 patients (71.0%) at a time. Round-the-clock EEG technologist coverage was available at most (90.0%) institutions with technologists mostly being in-house (68.0%). Most institutions without after-hours coverage (8 of 10) attributed this to insufficient technologists. The typical monitoring duration was 24 to 48 hours (23.0 and 40.0%), most commonly for subclinical seizures (68.4%) and spell characterization (11.2%). Larger neurology ICUs had more EEG technologists (p = 0.02), fellows (p = 0.001), and quantitative EEG use (p = 0.001). Conclusions: This survey explores current cEEG practice patterns in the United States. Larger centers had more technologists and fellows. Overall technologist numbers are stable over time, but with a move toward more in-hospital compared with home-based coverage. Reduced availability of EEG technologists was a major factor limiting cEEG availability at some centers.