Global Advanced Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences (GARJMMS) ISSN: 2315-5159
April 2016 Issue Vol. 5(4), pp. 109-115
Copyright © 2016 Global Advanced Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Anthropometric Study of Cephalic Index of adult Tiv and Idoma ethnic groups of North Central Nigeria

Terkula Kpela¹*, B. Danborno², S.S. Adebisi², S.A. Ojo³

¹Department of Anatomy, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria.
²Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
³Department of Veterinary Anatomy,  Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

*Corresponding Author Email: kpelaterkula@gmail.com dookpelu@yahoo.com;  Mobile: +234 806 783 8483

Accepted 15 April, 2016

Abstract

Cephalic index is useful in establishing ethnic differences and affiliations. The aim of this study was to calculate cephalic index from head measurements and determine the predominant anatomical head forms of Tiv and Idoma ethnic groups with inter-ethnic comparison. The sample consisted of 828 volunteers aged 18-32 years drawn from the two ethnic groups, out of whom 418 were Tiv (218 male, 200 female) and 410 were Idoma (222 male, 188 female). The protocol was approved by Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria and participants gave informed consent. Demographic data was collected through self-administered questionnaire and head length and head breadth was measured to calculate cephalic index. Data was analyzed using statistical package SPSS for windows version 20 (IBM Corporation, New York, USA). Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test for comparison of mean in two groups were used. Statistical significance was considered at p<0.05. The mean cephalic index in male and female Tiv subjects was 85.0±4.94 and 83.8±6.40 while that in male and female Idoma subjects was 84.5±5.28 and 82.7±6.58 respectively. The two ethnic groups exhibited sexual dimorphism with respect to cephalic index with males having significantly higher values than females (p<0.05). When cephalic indices of both ethnic groups were compared, there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). In both ethnic groups, brachycephalic head type was the most prevalent (47.4% and 41.7%) and dolichocephalic type was the least prevalent (0.7% and 2.9%) for Tiv and Idoma respectively. The result showed that on the basis of cephalic index and the predominant anatomical head type, there was similarity between the two ethnic groups. There is need to conduct genetic studies to backup these observed morphometric similarities.

Keywords: anthropometric, cephalic index, brachycephalic, Tiv, Idoma.