Standardization of EEG reporting in Latin America using the SCORE Standard

The report of the EEG results has traditionally been made using free-text formats with a huge variation in descriptions due to several factors. Recently, the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) endorsed the use of the Standardized Computer-based Organized Reporting of EEG (SCORE). The interobserver agreement in EEG interpretation is only moderate. Even some authors have shown that EEG (mis)interpretation is one of the most significant factors leading to misdiagnosis in Epilepsy. One element probably contributing to the interobserver differences is the free-text format for the EEG descriptions. In practice, free-text format (narrative) predominates, and a wide variety of local terminologies are used. Another potential issue is the translation of terms to languages different from English. This is particularly true in Latin-American Spanish-speaking countries. For example, the epileptiform morphology 'spike' can be described in Spanish as 'punta', 'espiga', 'espícula' or 'onda puntiforme' according to local preferences.

Project Status: Ongoing
Start Date: January 1, 2019
Proposed End Date: December 31, 2025
ILAE Region: Latin America
Language(s): English, Spanish
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico, University of Guadalajara
Principal Investigator / Organizer: Dr. Alioth Guerrero Aranda
Contact Person: Alioth Guerrero Aranda, alioth.garanda@academicos.udg.mx
Patient Age: All Ages
Project Type(s): Clinical
Funding Source(s): Personal
Project Need(s): Volunteers
Publications Associated with the Project: Guerrero-Aranda, A., Friman-Guillen, H. & González-Garrido, A.A. (2022). Acceptability by end-users of a standardized structured format for reporting EEG. Clinical EEG and Neuroscience. April 2022. DOI:10.1177/15500594221091527