A Pilot Psychometric Investigation of the Sexual Addiction Screening Test (SAST) and Women's Sexual Addiction Screening Test (W-SAST) in a Nigerian Hospital Setting

Abstract

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.