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Interpupillary distance in a normal black population
Author(s) -
Pivnick EK,
Rivas ML,
Tolley EA,
Smith SD,
Presbury GJ
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
clinical genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.543
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1399-0004
pISSN - 0009-9163
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-0004.1999.550306.x
Subject(s) - population , normal population , biology , genetics , medicine , environmental health
This report expands on a study by Pryor [Pryor HB. Objective measurement of interpupillary distance. Pediatrics 1969: 44: 973–977] that related normal values of inner canthal distance (ICD), outer canthal distance (OCD) and interpupillary distance (IPD) for Whites, Asians and Mexican–Americans. To date, no similar values have been reported for Blacks. Utilizing a sample (n=931: 485 males; 446 females) of black people (range, birth–24 years), OCD, ICD, and head circumference (HC) were measured and tabulated. We calculated mean IPD according to Pryor’s formulation and report that the general mean OCD and ICD in our sample differed significantly from, and were consistently higher than, Pryor’s reported measurements for White males and females at each age level (p<0.001). However, ICD in our sample was significantly lower at birth in both sexes, appeared to increase at a more rapid rate relative to Whites during the first 3 months of life, and reached and maintained a higher value beyond the age of 3 months, with most age groups showing a significant difference in mean ICD measurements. At each age level, the mean IPD values in Whites and Blacks were significantly higher (p<0.001). Based upon these findings, we suggest that interpupillary distance of Black children and adults be assessed according to the mean proportions for their race.