Jornal de Biomecânica Forense

Abstrato

Anthropometric Estimation of Foot Parameters for the Igbos of Nigeria

Willy Vidona, Chike Anibeze, Anthony Akpa

The aim of the study is to anthropologically measure foot parameters with a view to identifying and isolating the morphologic and morphometric peculiarities of the Igbo ethnic tribe of Nigeria. The research was carried on 1200 adult population males and females chosen randomly from the Igbo geopolitical states of Nigeria. Six foot parameters were measured, while two parameters were calculated as: Foot Index calculated as Foot breadth / Foot length x 100; Toe shape as Toe length/ Foot length x 100. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics, Anova-test. Confidence level was set at 95%, as P-values ≤0.005 were considered significant. Findings showed ethnic and sex differences to be highly significant (P<0.005) with males having higher values than the females. This study observed that foot length, showed positive correlation and significantly predicted ethnicity with better accuracy (P<0.005) while foot breadth and toe shape had varied correlations and predicted ancestry but with low accuracy (p>0.005). Conclusively the study showed that foot parameters are morphometric ally and morphologically ethnic specific.