Some variables of the craniofacial complex in a Venezuelan population of Negroid ancestry.
A total of 226 individuals (101 males and 125 females), from La Sabana, a Venezuelan Negroid isolate, with ages between 8 and 60 years, were studied in order to characterize the population for its craniofacial variables and to study the behavior of these variables in relation to age and sex. The variables studied were grouped in three categories: direct cephalometric variables, which included 6 measurements taken directly on the individuals; indirect cephalometric variables, which included 18 measurements (9 angular and 9 linear), taken on lateral head films; and dental variables, which included 9 measurements taken from dental models. In general the direct variables showed the lowest coefficients of variation (CV), suggesting homogeneity within this sample. They were followed by the dental and the indirect variables, which had the highest CV values. In order to detect age and sex effects on the variables, sex and age group comparisons were performed with Student t tests. A greater proportion of significant differences were found among the direct variables, indicating that age and sex have more influence on this group of variables than upon the other two. Comparisons of our sample from La Sabana, with samples from African Negroid, Caucasoid, and Amerindian population show that La Sabana individuals have a craniofacial pattern basically Negroid, as we expected, although some contribution from Caucasoides and especially Amerindians is also suggested in our data.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D044383:Black People; D002508:Cephalometry; D002648:Child; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D014687:Venezuela