Study of the cranial (cephalic) and facial (prosopic) indexes of Ukwuani indigenes in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: It is noted that the head and face shapes of humans from different ethnic groups vary markedly. The cause of these variations has been attributed to several environmental factors. Measurements of these indexes become a necessity to prove that individuals from a particular ethnic group have similar head and face forms. Aim: The present study was aimed at measuring the cephalic and prosopic indexes of Ukwuani indigenes of Delta State. Materials and Method: A total of 315 subjects (165 males and 150 females) were selected by simple random sampling and were measured for their cranial and facial lengths and breath and the respective indexess were calculated. Results: Males had a mean prosopic index of 99.15 whereas females had a marginally lower mean prosopic index of 94.54, both belonged to the hyperleptoprosopic facial group and observed differences between both genders were statistically not significant (P = 0.25) The mean cranial index in males and females was 80.21 and 79.04, respectively, both belonged to the mesocephalic cranial group and observed differences between both genders were statistically significant (P = 0.01). Conclusion: There was no statistically significant gender difference with regards to prosopic index but with regards to cephalic index the observed gender difference was statistically significant.