Cephalometry to determine the head index of children younger than 6 years in kindergartens at the Ministry of higher education in Kabul, Afghanistan

ABSTRACT

Background: A part of the anthropometry that measures and studies the dimensions of the head and the faces is called cephalometric, the results of which are used in various medical branches. The standard of this measurement is different in each country because different racial factors and geographic impact on it, so the values obtained by researchers in other countries cannot be a criterion for determining the normal growth of head in other countries. The aim of this study was to determine the head standard index and the prevalence of head anatomic types in children younger than 6 years old in Kabul ministry of higher education Kindergartens in order to determine the head standard index in 2018.Methods: This descriptive study was conducted for all male and female children less than 6 years old at the ministry of higher education in Kabul, which had no specific physical and mental problems in 2018. The measurements of the length and width of the head were measured by the Martin Calliper Cephalometry, and according to the protocol, the head index and the prevalence of different phenotypes was determined.Results: Based on the present study, it was found that most of the male and female head are in the form of brachicephalic with a total percentage of 56.82%, as well as 31.81% of the heads hyper brachicephalic and 9.09% of the mesosafalic head and the lowest number of heads the were dolgossific species with a total percentage of 2.28%. Also, the study of the head index based on age showed that in less than one-year olds, the heads were most the type of hyper brachicephalic and in other age groups, the head index was lower and the brachicephalic.Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that the dominant phenotypes in children under the age of six years in kindergartens at the ministry of higher education in Kabul are of brachicephalic in both males and females.