The intercanthal and interpupillary distances of three major ethnics in Malaysia

Abstract

The normal range of intercanthal distance (ICD) and interpupillary distance (IPD) have only been reported in one minor ethnics group in Malaysia, the KadazanDusun. The aim of this study was to establish the ICD and IPD in the three major ethnic stocks in Malaysia, namely the Malays, Chinese and Indian. A total of 300 samples consisting of 50 adult males and 50 adult females of each ethnic stock were recruited from the campus of the University of Malaya. ICD was measured between the median angles of the palpebral fissures and IPD was measured between the midpoint of the pupils. Measurements were done twice to the nearest 0.5 mm by one researcher using a caliper and a metal ruler. A mean was taken out of these two measurements. If there were major discrepancies, a third reading was taken and two closest measurements were accepted. In ICD measurement, the means of all three group were highly significantly different from each other. The widest space between inner canthus was recorded in both sexes of the Chinese followed by the Malay and the narrowest space was noted in both sexes of the Indians. Gender variation is statistically significant where the males tend to have a wider intercanthal distance compared to females in all three ethnic groups. There was no significant difference between the mean IPD values among the three ethnics. However highly, statistically significant difference (independent t-test <0.001) was seen when comparing between the two sexes; the male generally had a wider IPD to the female in all the races. The ICD and IPD in this study samples were within the range of those in the KadazanDusun, whites, black and mixed populations.