The evaluation of craniofacial dimensions in female Arak newborns (central Iran)in comparison with other Iranian racial subgroups

ABSTRACT

Although anthropometric dimensions evaluate the health of newborns, there is not enough information in this field in Iran. This study was undertaken on female newborns from Arak to determine the range of their head and face dimensions in comparison with other subgroups of the Iranian population. The means and SD of cephalic and prosopic indices were 81.5 ± 4 and 94.9 ± 8.1 respectively. The dominant type of cephalic index was mesocephalic and the rarest one was dolichocephalic. The dominant and rare types of faces were hypereuryprosopic and hyperleptoprosopic. The means of head length did not show statistically significance in the Arak, Turkmen and Fars populations, while head breadth was higher for the Arak individuals in comparison with Fars (P<0.01) and Turkmen (P<0.002). Although the mean of head circumference for the Arak was higher, there was no statistical significance in comparison with the Kurd, Turkmen and Fars racial subgroups. Morphological classification of the head showed that there were no statistical significant differences between Arak and Fars. The percent of the brachyocephalic type for Arak and Fars subgroup was statistically higher than that for Turkmen (P<0.02), while the dolichocephalic type was lower for Arak and Fars (P<0.02) Morphological classification of the face showed that there were no statistical significant differences between Arak and Fars. The most marked differences were observed in the face shapes of the Arak and Fars in comparison with Turkmen. The types of head and face of the female Arak newborns differ somewhat from those observed in populations from other parts of Iran. However, the cephalometric evaluation indicates that the craniofacial features of Arak newborns are more similar to the Fars racial subgroup living in Iran. In sum, it can be said that across the racial differences, socio-ecological factors such as colder climates and nutrition may influence craniofacial parameters (AU)

RESUMEN

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