Association of Gender and Cephalofacial Types among Five Dominant Ethnic Groups of Gombe State Nigeria

The study of cephalofacial parameters has been used in various human populations to test heterogeneity in head and face forms for sexual dimorphisms and ethnic variations. These features are used by plastic surgeons, forensic researchers and anthropologists to estimate the sex, shapes and other features of head and face. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between gender and the different head and face types among the dominant ethnic populations of Gombe State. The study was a descriptive and cross-sectional study which involved 500 participants from the five dominant ethnic groups of Gombe State Nigeria, and simple random technique was used for recruitment of participants. Cephalic length, cephalic breadth, facial length and facial breadth were measured using standard protocols. Descriptive statistics was used to determine the mean values of the cephalic and facial indices and Pearson chi-square test was used to investigate the relationship of gender with different head and face types. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The result of the association of gender with head types revealed that there was no significant relationship between these variables except in the Fulani where a statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05) was observed between the two variables. There was a significant relationship between gender and the various face types (p < 0.05) in the ethnic groups with the exception of two tribes Bole and Waja. It was found that the ethnic groups have predominantly Mesocephalic and Dolicephalic head types and the Hyper Leptoproscopic and Leptoproscopic face types were also common.

Key Words: Association, gender, cephalofacial, ethnicity.