Anthropometric study of interalar width and mouth width measurements among Nigerians of Delta State extraction

Abstract

Facial measurements can be used in estimating sex age and ethnic or racial variations within a given population. However, these measurements could be affected by nutritional, biological and climatic factors. Application of these measurements play pivotal roles in forensic medicine, plastic surgery, orthodontics and identification. This study set out to study the anthropometric differences in Interalar and Mouth width among Nigerians of delta state extraction. The study involved 200 subjects (100males and 100 females) selected from a randomised Delta state population between the ages of 18-30 years who must have satisfied the measurement criteria and given full consent. Measurement of Mouth width and Interalar width was taken with a digital vernier calliper. The values of measured parameters (Interalar width and Mouth width) were measured and calculated. The Interalar width of both males and females had a mean value of 42.39±4.18 and 37.31±4.75 respectively with p- value of 0.09 which was not statistically significant at p < 0.05. The Mouth width for both males and females has a mean of 58.91±7.26 and 47.42±6.10 respectively with p- value of 0.04, which was considered statistically significant at p < 0.05. Interalar width and Mouth width was higher in males than females and it is believed that the result from this present study may provide very useful baseline data which may be of importance in reconstructive surgery and forensic study.