Radiographic Analysis of Sexual Dimorphism in Maximum Cranial Length Among Adult Indonesian Males and Females

Abstract

Introduction: The maximum cranial length (MCL), measured as the horizontal linear distance from the glabella to the opisthocranion, is a fundamental parameter in anthropometric studies with important applications in forensic identification and clinical evaluation. Although it has been widely reported in previous research, radiographic-based MCL data across different age groups and sexes in the Indonesian population remain scarce. Method: We conducted a linear measurement analysis of the MCL based on the plain skull-lateral view radiographs of 26 men and 26 women in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, from five age groups using MicroDICOM software (2024.2). We excluded data from patients with major trauma or congenital abnormality. We performed intra- and inter-observer analysis prior to the final calculations. All data were analyzed using an independent t-test, with a significance level set at p<0.05 (SPSS 24.0). Result: MCL was significantly greater in males than females (p = 0.001). However, no significant differences were found across the five age groups (p = 0.895). Spearman’s correlation also showed no significant association between age and MCL (r = 0.013, p = 0.927), indicating stability of cranial length in adulthood. Conclusion: These findings support the use of radiograph cephalometry measurement of the MCL to differ between sexes. Further study is needed to justify our results, with larger sample numbers and other anthropometry parameters.