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Validity and Reliability of Quantitative Electroencephalography

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Check out this Knowledge Base article from StressTherapy Solutions: Validity and Reliability of Quantitative Electroencephalography.

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Study at a glance

Area
QEEG, Methods & Mechanisms
Study type
Review & meta-analysis
Authors
Thatcher RW
Journal
Journal of Neurotherapy
Year
2010
Protocol
review of qEEG reliability and validity

Key findings

  • Visual reading of EEG traces shows low reliability (about 0.2 to 0.29) and poor inter-rater agreement for non-epilepsy cases
  • qEEG reliability exceeds 0.9 with epochs as short as 40 seconds and stays stable over days and weeks
  • qEEG measures correlate with independent measures such as MRI, PET, SPECT, the Glasgow Coma Score and neuropsychological tests
  • Simulations show coherence and phase lose physiological validity with average reference and Laplacian montages

DOI 10.1080/10874201003773500 →

A review applying the statistical ideas of reliability and validity to quantitative EEG, with mild traumatic brain injury used as the main example. The author contrasts computer-based qEEG with visual inspection of EEG traces for conditions other than epilepsy, citing literature on test-retest reliability and on correlations with clinical, imaging and neuropsychological measures. He concludes that qEEG is highly reliable and valid, while visual reading performs poorly outside epilepsy.