Background: Brain fag and burnout are exhaustion syndromes first described in different cultural contexts, and both occur among students.They share some similarities but have not been compared in research.Objective: This study sought to determine the relationship between brain fag and burnout among adolescent students in Calabar, Nigeria.Method: In this cross-sectional study, 810 students were recruited from ten secondary schools in Calabar.The Brain Fag Syndrome Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey were administered.Results: The mean sample age was 15.93 (±1.35) years, and the gender distribution was approximately equal.The emotional exhaustion and cynicism dimensions of burnout were significantly associated with brain fag syndrome (p<0.05).Respondents with high emotional exhaustion (Odds ratio [OR]=3.3,confidence interval [CI]=2.06-5.36)and cynicism (OR=2.7,CI=1.66-4.39)were more likely to meet the threshold for brain fag syndrome.Principal components analysis of items from both instruments yielded a four-factor structure, and one had substantial loadings from both scales.Conclusions: Both syndromes are related, probably due to an overlap in core exhaustion symptoms.More research is needed to elucidate their relationship further.

Dr Abdullahi was a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Medical Training Initiative (MTI) scheme at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, East Anglia, between 2015 and 2017. He has adopted a comparative approach to share some salient observations and anecdotes from that time.

This study explores the psychometric properties of the SAST and W-SAST in an African setting. Following initial field-testing and a subsequent focus group discussion among 30 medical students, minimal language modifications were made to these questionnaires to better suit the Nigerian populace. The SAST and W-SAST were then respectively administered to a sample of 44 male and 47 female psychiatric patients. Thereafter, the respondents were subjected to an interview based on the Carnes Sexual Addiction Diagnostic Criteria. Internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha was.70 and .77 for the SAST and W-SAST respectively. As a screen for problematic hypersexual behavior in Nigerian males, the SAST had acceptable sensitivity (.83) and specificity (.93) at an optimal cut-off score of 14. A cut-off score of 9 reasonably balanced the sensitivity (.80) and specificity (.83) of the W-SAST when used as a screening tool for sexual addiction among Nigerian women. The SAST and W-SAST are valid and reliable tools that can be respectively used to screen for problematic hypersexual behavior among Nigerian men and women.

There is a paucity of information regarding paraphilia in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aims to take a preliminary look at the prevalence of paraphilia in a population representative of young adults in Nigeria. A total of 871 randomly selected full-time undergraduate students aged 18 or more years and enrolled at the University of Calabar had their paraphilia self-administered proforma analyzed. For the purpose of this study probable paraphilia was defined as paraphilic symptoms lasting over 6 months and associated with moderate to severe distress. The combined prevalence of paraphilia which described the number of subjects with at least one paraphilia was 14.8%. The most prevalent paraphilia subtype was voyeurism while pedophilia was the least prevalent. Paraphilia was significantly more likely to be present among younger students. In contrast to most reports however, there was no significant relationship between gender and paraphilia. Paraphilia research should thus not exclude women or be restricted to populations dominated by men. Longitudinal studies should be carried out in the future to explore the relationship(s) between possible risk factors and paraphilia.