Comparison of Nasal Index Between Northwestern Nigeria and Northern Iranian Populations: An Anthropometric Study Publisher



Dhulqarnain AO^{1, 2} ; Mokhtari T³ ; Rastegar T² ; Mohammed I^{1, 2} ; Ijaz S^{1, 2} ; Hassanzadeh G^{2, 3} Show Affiliations
Source: Journal of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery Published:2020

Abstract

Purpose: The nasal index has a great value in anthropological studies, because it is one of the anthropometric indices acknowledged in nasal surgery as well as management. Anthropometric studies are very important area for craniofacial surgery and syndromology. The aim of this research was to compare the nasal characteristics between northwestern Nigerian and Iranian populations and compare them with other studies. Methods: The nasal breadths and heights were measured from 400 individuals with 200 participants from Hausa ethnic group of northwestern Nigeria and 200 participants from Northern Tehran, Iran. Nasal index (NI) was calculated and analyzed statistically. Results: There were significant difference in the nasal breadth (P = 0.0001), height (P = 0.0001) and NI (P = 0.0001) of sex groups in both Iranian and Nigeria population. The distribution of the nasal shapes for Iranian population is 127 leptorrhine (31.9%), 62 mesorrhine (15.6%) and nine platyrrhine (2.3%), while Nigeria population has 120 mesorrhine (30.2%), 75 leptorrhine (18.8%) and five platyrrhine (1.3%). This shows that Nigeria Hausa population has predominantly mesorrhine nose shape, while Northern Iranians are leptorrhine. Conclusion: The NI of males is higher than females in both population and this study can be of clinical and surgical interest in Rhinology. We recommend further studies to compare the NI of Nigeria and Iranian population of different ethnic groups and with other countries. © 2019, The Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons of India.