Risk factors for psychological distress in electroencephalography technicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: A national-level cross-sectional survey in Japan

Naoto Kuroda; Takafumi Kubota; Toru Horinouchi; Naoki Ikegaya; Yu Kitazawa; Satoshi Kodama; Teppei Matsubara; Naoto Nagino; Shuichiro Neshige; Temma Soga; Daichi Sone; Yutaro Takayama; Izumi Kuramochi; IMPACT-J EPILEPSY (In-depth Multicenter analysis during Pandemic of Covid19 Throughout Japan for Epilepsy practice) study group

doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108361

Risk factors for psychological distress in electroencephalography technicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: A national-level cross-sectional survey in Japan

Epilepsy Behav. 2021 Dec:125:108361. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108361. Epub 2021 Oct 5.

Authors

Collaborators

IMPACT-J EPILEPSY (In-depth Multicenter analysis during Pandemic of Covid19 Throughout Japan for Epilepsy practice) study group:
Kousuke Kanemoto¹⁴, Akio Ikeda¹⁵, Kiyohito Terada¹⁶, Hiroko Goji¹⁴, Shinji Ohara¹⁷, Koichi Hagiwara¹⁸, Takashi Kamada¹⁸, Koji Iida¹⁹, Nobutsune Ishikawa²⁰, Hideaki Shiraishi²¹, Osato Iwata²², Hidenori Sugano²³, Yasushi Iimura²³, Takuichiro Higashi²⁴, Hiroshi Hosoyama²⁴, Ryosuke Hanaya²⁴, Akihiro Shimotake²⁵, Takayuki Kikuchi²⁶, Takeshi Yoshida²⁷, Hiroshi Shigeto²⁸, Jun Yokoyama²⁹, Takahiko Mukaino²⁹, Masaaki Kato³⁰, Masanori Sekimoto³⁰, Masahiro Mizobuchi³¹, Yoko Aburakawa³¹, Masaki Iwasaki³², Eiji Nakagawa³³, Tomohiro Iwata³⁴, Kentaro Tokumoto³⁵, Takuji Nishida³⁵, Yukitoshi Takahashi³⁵, Kenjiro Kikuchi³⁶, Ryuki Matsuura³⁶, Shin-Ichiro Hamano³⁶, Hideo Yamanouchi³⁷, Satsuki Watanabe³⁸, Ayataka Fujimoto³⁹, Hideo Enoki³⁹, Kyoichi Tomoto⁴⁰, Masako Watanabe⁴¹, Youji Takubo⁴¹, Toshihiko Fukuchi⁴², Hidetoshi Nakamoto⁴³, Yuichi Kubota⁴³, Naoto Kunii⁴⁴, Yuichiro Shirota⁴⁵, Eiichi Ishikawa⁴⁶, Nobukazu Nakasato⁴⁷, Taketoshi Maehara⁴⁸, Motoki Inaji⁴⁸, Shunsuke Takagi⁴⁹, Takashi Enokizono⁵⁰, Yosuke Masuda⁵¹, Takahiro Hayashi⁵²

Affiliations

¹ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
² Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Neurology, University Hospitals of Cleveland Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
³ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
⁴ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Japan.
⁵ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Neurology and Stroke Medicine, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
⁶ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA.
⁸ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Epilepsy Center, TMG Asaka Medical Center, Japan.
⁹ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Therapeutics, Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Japan.
¹⁰ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Epileptology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
¹¹ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Institute of Neurology, United Kingdom.
¹² Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Neurosurgery, National Center Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan.
¹³ Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, Saitama Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan.
¹⁴ Neuropsychiatric Department, Aichi Medical University, Japan.
¹⁵ Department of Epilepsy, Movement Disorders and Physiology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
¹⁶ Yokohama Minoru Epilepsy & Developmental Clinic, Japan.
¹⁷ Department of Neurosurgery, Fukuoka Sanno Hospital, Japan.
¹⁸ Epilepsy and Sleep Center, Fukuoka Sanno Hospital, Japan.
¹⁹ Department of Neurosurgery, Epilepsy Center, Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Japan.
²⁰ Department of Pediatrics, Epilepsy Center, Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Japan.
²¹ Department of Pediatrics, Hokkaido University Hospital, Epilepsy Center, Japan.
²² Iwata Clinic, Japan.
²³ Department of Neurosurgery, Juntendo University, Epilepsy Center, Japan.
²⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, Kagoshima University, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Japan.
²⁵ Department of Neurology, Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
²⁶ Department of Neurosurgery, Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
²⁷ Department of Pediatrics, Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
²⁸ Division of Medical Technology, Department of Health Sciences, Kyushu University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Japan.
²⁹ Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology, Kyushu University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Japan.
³⁰ Musashino Kokubunji Clinic, Japan.
³¹ Department of Neurology, Nakamura Memorial Hospital, Japan.
³² Department of Neurosurgery, National Center Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan.
³³ Department of Child Neurology, National Center Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan.
³⁴ Department of Psychiatry, National Defense Medical College, Japan.
³⁵ Epilepsy Center, NHO Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders, Japan.
³⁶ Division of Neurology, Saitama Children's Medical Center, Japan.
³⁷ Department of Pediatrics, Saitama Medical University, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Japan.
³⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Saitama Medical University, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Japan.
³⁹ Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, Japan.
⁴⁰ Department of Neurosurgery, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, Japan.
⁴¹ Shinjuku Neuro Clinic, Japan.
⁴² Suzukake Clinic, Japan.
⁴³ Epilepsy Center, TMG Asaka Medical Center, Japan.
⁴⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
⁴⁵ Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
⁴⁶ Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Tsukuba, Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
⁴⁷ Department of Epileptology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
⁴⁸ Department of Neurosurgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
⁴⁹ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
⁵⁰ Department of Pediatrics, University of Tsukuba Hospital, Japan.
⁵¹ Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tsukuba Hospital, Japan.
⁵² Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Japan.

Abstract

Objective: To identify the risk factors for psychological distress in electroencephalography (EEG) technicians during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Method: In this national-level cross-sectional survey initiated by Japan Young Epilepsy Section (YES-Japan), which is a national chapter of The Young Epilepsy Section of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE-YES), a questionnaire was administered to 173 technicians engaged in EEG at four clinics specializing in epilepsy care and 20 hospitals accredited as (quasi-) epilepsy centers or epilepsy training facilities in Japan from March 1 to April 30, 2021. We collected data on participants' profiles, information about work, and psychological distress outcome measurements, such as the K-6 and Tokyo Metropolitan Distress Scale for Pandemic (TMDP). Linear regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors for psychological distress. Factors that were significantly associated with psychological distress in the univariate analysis were subjected to multivariate analysis.

Results: Among the 142 respondents (response rate: 82%), 128 were included in the final analysis. As many as 35.2% of EEG technicians have been under psychological distress. In multivariate linear regression analysis for K-6, female sex, examination for patients (suspected) with COVID-19, and change in salary or bonus were independent associated factors for psychological distress. Contrastingly, in multivariate linear regression analysis for TMDP, female sex, presence of cohabitants who had to be separated from the respondent due to this pandemic, and change in salary or bonus were independent associated factors for psychological distress.

Conclusion: We successfully identified the risk factors associated with psychological distress in EEG technicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results may help in understanding the psychological stress in EEG technicians during the COVID-19 pandemic and improving the work environment, which is necessary to maintain the mental health of EEG technicians.

Keywords: COVID-19; Clinical neurophysiology; EEG; Epilepsy; Stress; Technician.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Electroencephalography
Female
Humans
Japan / epidemiology
Pandemics
Psychological Distress*
Risk Factors
SARS-CoV-2
Stress, Psychological / diagnosis
Stress, Psychological / epidemiology
Stress, Psychological / etiology