TY - JOUR
T1 - Special report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical EEG and research and consensus recommendations for the safe use of EEG
AU - Campanella, Salvatore
AU - Arikan, Kemal
AU - Babiloni, Claudio
AU - Balconi, Michela
AU - Bertollo, Maurizio
AU - Betti, Viviana
AU - Bianchi, Luigi
AU - Brunovsky, Martin
AU - Buttinelli, Carla
AU - Comani, Silvia
AU - Di Lorenzo, Giorgio
AU - Dumalin, Daniel
AU - Escera, Carles
AU - Fallgatter, Andreas
AU - Fisher, Derek
AU - Giordano, Giulia Maria
AU - Guntekin, Bahar
AU - Imperatori, Claudio
AU - Ishii, Ryouhei
AU - Kajosch, Hendrik
AU - Kiang, Michael
AU - López-Caneda, Eduardo
AU - Missonnier, Pascal
AU - Mucci, Armida
AU - Olbrich, Sebastian
AU - Otte, Georges
AU - Perrottelli, Andrea
AU - Pizzuti, Alessandra
AU - Pinal, Diego
AU - Salisbury, Dean
AU - Tang, Yingying
AU - Tisei, Paolo
AU - Wang, Jijun
AU - Winkler, Istvan
AU - Yuan, Jiajin
AU - Pogarell, Oliver
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Introduction: The global COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economy, daily life, and mental/physical health. The latter includes the use of electroencephalography (EEG) in clinical practice and research. We report a survey of the impact of COVID-19 on the use of clinical EEG in practice and research in several countries, and the recommendations of an international panel of experts for the safe application of EEG during and after this pandemic. Methods: Fifteen clinicians from 8 different countries and 25 researchers from 13 different countries reported the impact of COVID-19 on their EEG activities, the procedures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and precautions planned or already implemented during the reopening of EEG activities. Results: Of the 15 clinical centers responding, 11 reported a total stoppage of all EEG activities, while 4 reduced the number of tests per day. In research settings, all 25 laboratories reported a complete stoppage of activity, with 7 laboratories reopening to some extent since initial closure. In both settings, recommended precautions for restarting or continuing EEG recording included strict hygienic rules, social distance, and assessment for infection symptoms among staff and patients/participants. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic interfered with the use of EEG recordings in clinical practice and even more in clinical research. We suggest updated best practices to allow safe EEG recordings in both research and clinical settings. The continued use of EEG is important in those with psychiatric diseases, particularly in times of social alarm such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
AB - Introduction: The global COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economy, daily life, and mental/physical health. The latter includes the use of electroencephalography (EEG) in clinical practice and research. We report a survey of the impact of COVID-19 on the use of clinical EEG in practice and research in several countries, and the recommendations of an international panel of experts for the safe application of EEG during and after this pandemic. Methods: Fifteen clinicians from 8 different countries and 25 researchers from 13 different countries reported the impact of COVID-19 on their EEG activities, the procedures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and precautions planned or already implemented during the reopening of EEG activities. Results: Of the 15 clinical centers responding, 11 reported a total stoppage of all EEG activities, while 4 reduced the number of tests per day. In research settings, all 25 laboratories reported a complete stoppage of activity, with 7 laboratories reopening to some extent since initial closure. In both settings, recommended precautions for restarting or continuing EEG recording included strict hygienic rules, social distance, and assessment for infection symptoms among staff and patients/participants. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic interfered with the use of EEG recordings in clinical practice and even more in clinical research. We suggest updated best practices to allow safe EEG recordings in both research and clinical settings. The continued use of EEG is important in those with psychiatric diseases, particularly in times of social alarm such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
KW - Brain
KW - Brain Mapping
KW - COVID-19
KW - Consensus
KW - Electroencephalography
KW - Humans
KW - Mental Disorders
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - event-related oscillations (EROs)
KW - event-related potentials (ERPs)
KW - psychiatry
KW - quantitative EEG (qEEG)
KW - resting state electroencephalography (rsEEG)
KW - Brain
KW - Brain Mapping
KW - COVID-19
KW - Consensus
KW - Electroencephalography
KW - Humans
KW - Mental Disorders
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - event-related oscillations (EROs)
KW - event-related potentials (ERPs)
KW - psychiatry
KW - quantitative EEG (qEEG)
KW - resting state electroencephalography (rsEEG)
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/169178
U2 - 10.1177/1550059420954054
DO - 10.1177/1550059420954054
M3 - Article
SN - 1550-0594
VL - 52
SP - 3
EP - 28
JO - Clinical EEG and Neuroscience
JF - Clinical EEG and Neuroscience
ER -