From the lab to the field: acceptability of using electroencephalography with Indian preschool children [version 1; peer review: 1 approved with reservations]

Article


Lockwood Estrin, G., Bhavnani, S., Goodwin, A., Arora, R., Divan, G., Haartsen, R., Mason, L., Patel, V., Johnson, M. H. and Jones, E. J. H. 2022. From the lab to the field: acceptability of using electroencephalography with Indian preschool children [version 1; peer review: 1 approved with reservations]. Wellcome Open Research. 7 (99). https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17334.1
AuthorsLockwood Estrin, G., Bhavnani, S., Goodwin, A., Arora, R., Divan, G., Haartsen, R., Mason, L., Patel, V., Johnson, M. H. and Jones, E. J. H.
Abstract

Background: Measurement of social and cognitive brain development using electroencephalography (EEG) offers the potential for early identification of children with elevated risk of developmental delay. However, there have been no published reports of how acceptable EEG technology is to parents and children within communities, especially in low-resource contexts such as in low and middle income countries (LMICs), which is an important question for the potential scalability of these assessments. We use a mixed-methods approach to examine whether EEG assessments are acceptable to children and their caregivers in a low resource community setting in India.
Methods: We assessed the acceptability of neurophysiology research and Braintools (a novel neurodevelopmental assessment toolkit using concurrent EEG and eye-tracking technology) using: 1) a child engagement measure, 2) interviews with caregivers (n=8); 3) survey about caregiver’s experience (n=36). Framework analysis was used to analyse interview data.
Results: Key topics were examined using the framework analysis: 1) parental experience of the assessment; and 2) the acceptability of research. From topic 1, four sub-themes were identified: i) caregivers’ experience of the assessment, ii) caregivers’ perception of child's experience of assessment, iii) logistical barriers and facilitators to participation, and iv) recommendations for improvement. From topic 2, three themes were identified: i) caregivers' understanding of the research, ii) barriers to participation, and iii) facilitators to participation.
Conclusions: We demonstrate for the first time the acceptability of conducting neurodevelopmental assessments using concurrent EEG and eye-tracking in preschool children in uncontrolled community LMIC settings. This kind of research appears to be acceptable to the community and we identify potential barriers and facilitators of this research, thus allowing for future large scale research projects to be conducted investigating neurodevelopment and risk factors for suboptimal development in LMICs.

JournalWellcome Open Research
Journal citation7 (99)
ISSN2398-502X
Year2022
PublisherF1000Research
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Anyone
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17334.1
Publication dates
Online18 Mar 2022
Publication process dates
Deposited10 Aug 2022
FunderMedical Research Council
Wellcome Trust
Copyright holder© 2022 The Authors
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