Functional symptoms associated with study in Nigerian students
Prince, R.
West African Medical Journal 11: 198-206
1962
ISSN/ISBN: 0043-3004 PMID: 13986222 Document Number: 9013
The Nigerian student population suffers from a high incidence of functional disturbances. PRINCE (1960) described a distinctive cluster of symptoms occurring in Nigerian students; this was called the "Brain Fag" syndrome, a name by which the students themselves know the conditions, and is characterized by the following complaints associated with study: (1) unpleasant head sensations (pain, burning, crawling feelings etc.); (2) visual difficulties (blurring, eye pain, excessive tearing etc.); (3) inability to grasp the meaning of printed symbols; (4) poor retentivity; (5) fatigue and sleepiness in spite of adequate rest; these symptoms may be so severe as to be incapacitating. In that paper it was suggested that these symptoms were very prevalent, but no figures were available at that time. The present study was aimed primarily at determining in a rough way the proportion of students affected by these symptoms. Further data on the symptom patterns and possible etiology was also obtained. Results of this study indicate that if parental literacy differences do not adequately account for the variations in symptom prevalence in different schools, the school milieus themselves should be studied. Practically speaking this latter area should be explored first, for should pathological factors in the school milieu be found, these would be much more easily altered than firmly rooted patterns of child rearing.
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