Electroencephalography (EEG) is a noninvasive electrophysiological imaging technique used to record the brain’s electrical activity. The use of EEG is a critical problem in countries with limited resources. Adding to the complexity of the problem is the high prevalence of normal EEG findings. Moreover, there is a paucity of studies on the prevalence of abnormal EEG readings and the factors that influence them in developing countries, especially in Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the indications for EEG, determine the prevalence of abnormal EEG results, and identify predictors of abnormal EEG results at Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 439 paediatric patients, selected using systematic random sampling, who underwent EEG at ACSH for a range of neurological disorders from October 2019 to October 2024. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, clinical history, type and duration of epilepsy/seizures, and EEG indications and results were collected using a checklist, with the source being electronic EEG records. The ODK Collect mobile application was used for simultaneous data collection and entry. After exporting data to SPSS version 27, both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied. Binary logistic regression was fitted to identify predictors of EEG abnormality. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The mean age of the study participants was 7.9 years, and about two-thirds (63.6%) were male. More than three-fourths (77.0%) were right-handed, and the most common clinical diagnosis was generalized epilepsy (62%), and 89% of the participants had a seizure history. The most prevalent EEG finding was generalized epileptiform (43.1%). Overall, two-thirds (66.5%) of the EEG studies exhibited abnormality. The odds of abnormal EEG findings were almost five times higher in children not in remission (AOR = 4.6, 95% CI 1.9 to 11.2, p = 0.001). The odds of abnormal EEG were seven times higher in children with a history of seizure (AOR = 7.0, 95% CI 3.4 to 14.3, p < 0.001). The odds of abnormal EEG findings were found to increase by 20% as the duration of epilepsy rises by one year (AOR = 1.2, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.4, p = 0.001). The odds of abnormal EEG results were 12.6 times higher among children who had no febrile seizures than their counterparts (AOR = 12.6, 95% CI 1.4 to 111.3, p = 0.022). In the present study, the prevalence of abnormal EEG results was higher than in other Ethiopian studies for several reasons. Factors remarkably related to EEG abnormality are duration of seizure/epilepsy, febrile seizure, seizure history, and remission status. Therefore, more emphasis should be given to children with an ongoing seizure (not in remission) and a long history of seizures.
Gebremeskel et al. (Tue,) studied this question.