Improving the Effectiveness of the EEG Assessment
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Use of Panic Symptom Assessment and Suggestion To Increase The Yield of Diagnostic Non-Epileptic Seizure Provocation: A Feasibility Study
IRAS ID
289375
Contact name
Hannah Clarke
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 14 days
Research summary
People with Non-Epileptic Attack Disorder (NEAD) have events that look like seizures but are not caused by abnormal brain activity. To diagnose NEAD patients attend hospital for seizure provocation. Seizure provocation is unsuccessful in around 40% of people who may then require an inpatient stay which can be expensive and time-consuming.
Many non-epileptic events include physical symptoms which look like a panic attack, although the person may not feel panicky. Theory suggests that thinking and hearing about these symptoms may make an event more likely to occur. This is called symptom suggestion. This study will explore the possibility of including specific symptom suggestion in the seizure provocation procedure. It will also explore whether this increases the likelihood of an event being brought on. There are several potential benefits of this including, quicker diagnosis, reduction of inpatient stays, and saving time and money.
Patients from Salford Royal University Hospital who have been identified by the Neurophysiology Team as requiring an EEG with NEAD protocol, and who are able to give informed consent, will be eligible to take part in the research. Following consent, participants will be randomly assigned to two groups. One group will have seizure provocation as usual. The other group will first be asked about panic symptoms over telephone or video call. Specific symptom suggestion of their main symptoms will then occur during seizure provocation. The EEG recordings will be studied to see whether symptom suggestion is more effective than the usual approach and a questionnaire will be given to determine if this is acceptable to patients.
The recruitment for the research will occur between July 2022 and April 2023. Participants are likely to be involved with the research team for no longer than one month except for feedback of results if this has been requested.REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NW/0257
Date of REC Opinion
24 Sep 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion