Study on patterns and prevalence of EEG abnormalities in children presenting with behavioural disturbances in psychiatry OPD, Gauhati Medical College and Hospital

Background of the study: Children with behavioural abnormalities and developmental disorders are often advised electroencephalography (EEG) for evaluation of electrophysiological process of the brain to rule out any organic pathology. Various studies have reported abnormal EEG in these groups of children without history of clinical seizure on routine EEG and sleep EEG. Aim of the study: To study pattern and prevalence of EEG abnormalities in children with behavioural abnormalities without history of clinical seizure. Materials and methods: The study is a retrospective study. Ethical clearance has been obtained from institutional ethical committee for the study. To collect data, socio-demographic and clinical data proforma has been used. Data has been evaluated during the period from June 2011 to June 2014 as per selection criteria from the case history record of children with behavioural abnormalities attending child guidance clinic (CGC). Associations of abnormal EEG with various psychiatric diagnoses has been analysed and chi-square test has been used. p value <0.05 has been taken as test of significance. Result: Total 2011 children attended CGC from 2011 June to 2014 June. One hundred and ninety two children of various psychiatric diagnoses as per the tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) criteria had fulfilled the selection criteria and 113 children had done EEG. Abnormal EEG was found in 26.54% of children with various psychiatric diagnoses. Association was statistically significant (p<0.05). The EEG abnormalities were found more in male gender than female (p<0.05) and more in younger age group (four to ten years, p<0.05). Conclusion: Children with various psychiatric diagnoses have significant association with abnormal EEG without history of clinical seizure.