Visual EEG reviewing times with SCORE EEG.

OBJECTIVE

Visual EEG analysis is the gold standard for clinical EEG interpretation and analysis, but there is no published data on how long it takes to review and report an EEG in clinical routine. Estimates of reporting times may inform workforce planning and automation initiatives for EEG. The SCORE standard has recently been adopted to standardize clinical EEG reporting, but concern has been expressed about the time spent reporting.

METHODS

Elapsed times were extracted from 5889 standard and sleep-deprived EEGs reported between 2015 and 2017 reported using the SCORE EEG software.

RESULTS

The median review time for standard EEG was 12.5 min, and for sleep deprived EEG 20.9 min. A normal standard EEG had a median review time of 8.3 min. Abnormal EEGs took longer than normal EEGs to review, and had more variable review times. 99% of EEGs were reported within 24 h of end of recording. Review times declined by 25% during the study period.

CONCLUSION

Standard and sleep-deprived EEG review and reporting times with SCORE EEG are reasonable, increasing with increasing EEG complexity and decreasing with experience. EEG reports can be provided within 24 h.

SIGNIFICANCE

Clinical standard and sleep-deprived EEG reporting with SCORE EEG has acceptable reporting times.