Automatic continuous EEG signal analysis for diagnosis of delirium in patients with sepsis

•Automatic cEEG analysis shows that the mean global field power (MGFP) and the lack of EEG reactivity are the strongest predictors for delirium.•Low global cEEG coherence predicted delirium, revealing a lack of integration between brain regions.•Visual and automatic cEEG analysis provide complementary information regarding brain function in septic patients with delirium. In critical care, continuous EEG (cEEG) monitoring is useful for delirium diagnosis. Although visual cEEG analysis is most commonly used, automatic cEEG analysis has shown promising results in small samples. Here we aimed to compare visual versus automatic cEEG analysis for delirium diagnosis in septic patients. We obtained cEEG recordings from 102 septic patients who were scored for delirium six times daily. A total of 1252 cEEG blocks were visually analyzed, of which 805 blocks were also automatically analyzed. Automatic cEEG analyses revealed that delirium was associated with 1) high mean global field power (p