Retracted: Morphometric study of cephalo-facial indices among Bini children in southern Nigeria

Abstract

This article has been retracted by the Editor.

Cephalometry is an important branch of anthropometry which involves the morphological study of structures present in the human head or scientific measurement of the dimensions of the head. Some of the most important cephalometric parameters include the length/height and breadth/width of the head, the face and the nose as well as their respective indices. These cephalometric parameters are vital in the description of variation which is a common phenomenon that characterizes human physiognomy. They are also useful in the description of human inter-racial and intra-racial similarities both within and across gender. This study involved 450 Bini children (235 males and 215 females) between ages 5-12 years. The length and width of the head and face of each subject was measured between the appropriate anatomical landmarks using spreading and sliding calipers. The measurements were used to calculate the cephalic and facial indices for each subject. The result showed sexual variation in both cephalic and facial indices among the Bini children with the males having higher values than the females. Also, the result of this study showed that prevalence of brachycephalic head type among both male (51.1%) and female (49.8%) Bini children. The mesoproscopic face type was the most prevalent face type among both male (62.6%) and female (47.4%) Bini children. The cephalo-facial indices are vital in demonstrating similarity and variation in physical morphologies of individuals or group of people of different ethnicity, races, gender and geographical locations.

Keywords: Cephalometry, Cephalic index, facial index, Bini children, Nigeria