Facial indices and morphology: A study among Bono and Ewe adult population in the Bono region, Ghana

Abstract

Facial parameters are of utmost importance in identification and racial morphological classification. Facial indices serve as identification tools when used alongside hand print patterns for forensic and biometric purposes such as health insurance, voters’ identity card, driver's license and passports among others. There is paucity of information on facial types and their distribution patterns with respect to ethnicity, age and sex in Ghana. Therefore, the aim of this study was to generate baseline data on facial dimensions among the Bonos and Ewes living in the Bono Region of Ghana. A total of 291 healthy individuals (152 Bonos and 139 Ewes), aged 18–60 years were recruited for the study. The results of the present study showed that male facial parameters were numerically higher than those of the female participants. The predominant facialtype was hyperleptoprosopic (98.96%) and the least was leptoprosopic (1.03%). There were more Bono participants (51.89%) that were hyperleptoprosopic compared to the Ewes (47.07%). Also, among the hyperleptoprosopic participants, there were more males (55.32%) than females (43.29%). Very few males (0.003%) and females (0.006%) were leptoprosopic.The Bono participants recorded significantly greater morphological facial height and facial breadth than the Ewes. The results of the present study affirm population variation in facial anthropometry and reinforce the need to establish specific facial standards for each tribe of the Ghanaian population. This study has provided data for facial morphology for biometric and forensic purposes as well as facial reconstruction in Ghana.