Brain Fag Syndrome (BFS), Sleep, and Beliefs About Sleep Among Secondary School Students in Nigeria

Objective: brain fag, a culture bound syndrome which manifests especially among students in africa was investigated in relation to sleep and beliefs about sleep in a sample of nigerian secondary school students. methods: a sample of 500 secondary school students were drawn from six secondary schools in ile-ife, osun state, nigeria. the brain fag syndrome scale, beliefs and attitude about sleep questionnaire, and selected items of pittsburgh sleep index were administered on the participants. results: students with brain fag syndrome (bfs) slept an average of 5.8 hrs (s.d = 1.1) while those without bfs slept an average of 5.9 hrs (s.d = 1.1). one hundred and eighty two (37.3%) bfs students slept above 6 hrs a day compared with 32 (62.7%) of non bfs students (t = -2.667; df = 49; p = 0.657). students with bfs (44.3%) slept early while 33.8% of students without bfs slept early (x2 = 7.324, df = 3, p = 0.007). early insomnia was experienced by 57% of bfs cases while 55% of non bfs cases experienced early insomnia (x2 = 2.019; df = 1; p = 0.155). conclusion: bfs students in nigeria to adjust their sleep patterns and habits in order to forestall clinically significant psychological breakdown and impairment in cognitive functioning