A Study of Anthropometric Comparison of the Cephalic Indices of Igbo and Ibibio Students of Madonna University Elele Campus, Rivers State

The human head shape is classified by means of the cephalic index. Cephalic index is used to measure the size of the head which is done by determining the ratio of the maximum head breadth to the maximum head length. The present study evaluates the anthropometric comparison of the cephalic indices of Igbo and Ibibio students of Madonna University Elele campus, Rivers State. 400 subjects were involved in this study and measurements were taken with subject sitting on a chair, in a relaxed mood and the head in the anatomical position. Cephalic index was calculated as bi-parietal diameter/length of head x 100. The data was subjected to statistical analysis using Student t-test, Anova (Analysis of Variance) and Bar charts. From this study, the result obtained showed that the Ibibio males had a mean cephalic index (CI) of 88.08, Ibibio females 86.35, Igbo males 84.27 and Igbo females 86.10. It is worthy to note that there is sexual dimorphism where Cephalic index is higher in males than females for the Ibibio and Igbo tribes (p <0.005). On the Average, the mean C.I. in the two tribes were >80 which puts them in the brachycephalic or short headed population. The result of this study showed that Cephalic Index can serve as one of the most reliable body parameter for the determination of sexual dimorphism and Ethnic differences.

Key Words: brachycephalic, cephalic index, tribes, anthropometry