Morphometric Analysis of External Ear to Estimate the Stature and Sexual Dimorphism in North Indians: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Anthropometry is an essential technique to understand the variations in the human body that is implicated during various reconstructive surgical procedures, and for the identification of individual during crime scene in forensics. Analysis of ear morphology plays a role in understanding the sexual dimorphism and stature in the human population. It has been found that the ear morphology changes from one region to another. Aim: To study the morphometric parameters of the ear for stature estimation, and to identify sexual dimorphism in north Indian population. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study of 200 subjects (100 males and 100 females) aged 17-25 years was conducted in the Department of Anatomy, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. The study participants were selected from the MBBS, BDS and Nursing undergraduates studying in Banaras Hindu University (BHU). The various aspects of ear morphology (ear length, ear width, lobule length, lobule width) were measured. Student’s t-test, Karl Pearson’s Coefficient of Correlation and Linear regression equation were calculated. Results: The mean age for males were 19.17 years and females were 19.52 years. Measurements for ear length, width and lobule width of both ears were higher in males than females. The mean right and left ear length in males were 60.77±3.74 and 59.99±3.83 mm, and that for females were 56.59±3.044 and 55.55±3.68 mm, respectively. The mean right and left ear width in males were 30.60±2.81 and 30.81±2.69 mm and that for females, the values of ear width for right and left ears were 28.55±3.12 and 28.81±2.80 mm, respectively. A strong correlation between right and left ear length and stature in females were observed using linear regression coefficient analysis. The correlation coefficient between stature to right and left ear length in females were 0.554 and 0.51, respectively (p-value=0.030). Conclusion: Ear length and width, and lobule width of the right and left ears were significantly higher in males. There were no significant differences observed in lobule length. There was a strong correlation between the stature and right and left ear length in females, moderate strength of association was seen in stature with ear width and lobule length in females.