Photogrammetric Evaluation of Some Normative Facial Indices of Young Adults of Igbo Ethnic Group, Nigeria

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Evaluation of facial indices (nasal, canthal, and facial index) has always been of great interest because of its use in forensic science, plastic surgery, orofacial surgery, and population studies. The study aims to evaluate the normative facial indices of young adults of the Igbo ethnic group of Nigeria. METHOD: The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional study design where 300 respondents participated in the study (150 males and 150 females) between the ages of 18 - 37 years with BMI of 18 – 29 were randomly selected. Subjects whose BMI fell within the category of slightly underweight (≤18.4) and slightly overweight (>24.9) according to conventional BMI classification, looked seemingly healthy and were included in the study. Minimum sample size was determined using the Cochran’s formula. Linear facial parameters and facial indices were calculated using the standard formula, and data obtained were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23. Continuous variables were presented as mean±SD. Age was grouped into 18-21, 22-25, 26-29, 30-33 and 34-37. Data was presented as mean ± standard deviation. Independent T-test was used to test for significance in the variables between genders, one way ANOVA was used to test for significance in age and variables. A probability less than 0.05 (P<0.05) was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Facial indices (canthal, nasal and facial index) were 37.67±5.14, 78.85±15.08 and 54.65±5.01 respectively among the males while among the females; 0.23±7.47, 61.26±12.44 and 46.22±14.04 respectively. The study parameters were found to be higher in males (p<0.05). The study analyzed respondents aged 18-21, 22-25, 26-29, 30-33 and 34-37 and found no significant association between canthal, nasal, and facial index and age. The Canthal index was higher in 22-25 years. nasal index values were higher in 34-37 years and facial index in ages 26-29 years. CONCLUSION: Facial indices show significant sex differences and would serve as a reference to clinical anatomists and forensic anthropologists.