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Study of Ear-Face Index Among the Youth of Madhesis Community of Nepal

INTRODUCTION: Ear is an important complex of the facial complex, which gives an impression of the bearer’s age and sex. From aesthetic point of view the shape, size and spatial location of the ears are very important. Any abnormality is an indication of anomaly in the subject. The biometrics of ear is a very interesting issue as during crime scene investigation, ear marks and measurements are often used for identification in the absence of valid fingerprints. Ear biometrics can positively identify an individual using comparative analysis of the human ear and its morphology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was carried out among residents of Ramnagar Gaupalika-7, Sarlahi,Nepal, one of the core region of Madhesh Nepal dated Jan2020 to March2020 .The cohort consists of independent adults of age group 17-35 and consenting adults from the metropolis. Ethical approval was sought and obtained from the supervising ethical committee of the Nobel Medical College Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar, Nepal. Consent for the recruitment of the subjects were taken from the subjects by taking written consent. Subjects were randomly selected and those that had scars on the ears other than the usual ear piercing for rings and those with observable defect or growths were excluded from the study. No interventions or investigations were done. Only digital photography were taken. This caused no harm to the subjects. The photographs were used for research purpose only. Sample size: 50 male and 50 female. RESULTS: Mean facial height of 193.92 (19.66) mm. for males was significantly longer than the facial height of women 169.68 (17.21) mm. The ear face indices were 33.86 (3.18) % and 33.08 (3.05)% in males, right and left respectively and 36.76 (3.55)% and 35.40 (3.44)% in females. The mean ear heights were 65.25(5.88) mm for right ear and 63.80 (5.95) mm for left ear for the male individuals. Whereas for female the mean ear height for right side was 62.06 (3.79) mm and 59.69 (3.86) mm for left ear. There were significance differeneces between both the ear height in both the genders male and female. DISCUSSION: Significant variations exist between the male and the female sexes in height of ear as well as the facial height and ear-face index. Several studies have indicated that male facial height was higher than female’s. This study has also confirmed that the length of face in case of male individual is significantly larger than that of the female. The earface index also concludes that the larger index in case of female as compare to the male might be because of the aesthetic purpose. CONCLUSION: Significant variations do exist among ethnic groups and, and sexual dimorphism also do exist. The data obtained in our study may be useful as a reference for facial analyses that will be further useful in anthropological research, forensics, genetic research, medical clinical practice (reconstructive surgery) and in cosmetology. This study will serve as a basis of comparison for future studies in other ethnic group of Nepali population.