Anthropometric Assessment of Auricular Shapes and Dimensions among Students of University of Medical Sciences, Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: The human auricle is unique in every individual in terms of shape, size and dimension and therefore is of relevance for identity determination in a forensic setting. Aim: The study was aimed at assessing the shapes and dimensions of the auricles among students of University of Medical Sciences, Ondo State, Nigeria. Method: The sample comprised of 300 students, 127 male and 173 female subjects with ages ranging from 16-25 years. Auricular height and width and lobular height and weight of both auricles were measured using a digital venier caliper. The data obtained for the auricular dimension were analyzed using Statistical Package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Results: The results showed that the mean auricular height were 5.36 ±4.16 and 5.24±3.61 for the male and female subjects respectively with the male auricular height being significantly greater than the female auricular height (p=0.00016). Similarly, the mean auricular width was significantly greater in male when compared to that in female (2.99 ±3.31 versus 2.82±3.18; p=0.00000001). The mean lobular width, auricular and lobular indices also differed significantly between both gender, higher values in males for all three variables (1.38±7.99 versus 1.28±2.15, p=0.035; 5.59±4.98 versus 5.39±5.72, p=0.0001 and 8.07 ±9.77 versus 7.87± 9.83, p=0.014) . An evaluation of symmetry in auricular and lobular dimensions showed significant variations only in auricular height (p=0.029) and lobular width (p=0.039) between the right and left sides, mean values for the right being relatively higher. The distributions of auricular shapes studied were; 57%, 23.67%, 10.33% and 9%, for oval, round, triangular and rectangular-shaped respectively. These results support the findings that sexual dimorphism exists in auricular dimensions. However, there was no association between auricular shapes and gender.