The original paper can be found here.
RANGE OF MOUTH OPENING AMONG THREE MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS IN NIGERIA
O.O Gbolahan,1 B.B. Osinaike,2 C.I. Udoye,3 and O.W. Olawole4
Maximum mouth opening (MMO) is an important parameter in the assessment of several clinical situations and its measured value is documented to have racial, gender, age and anthropometric variation.
Objective:
To determine the maximal mouth opening and its predictors among the different major ethnic groups in Nigeria.
Methods:
Study subjects were 449 adults (232 males, 215 females), age range 18-74 years from the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. MMO measurements and anthropometric parameters were recorded. Data analysis was done using SPSS Version 22 and variables subjected to univariate analysis to determine association and a linear regression model was performed to determine variables that could predict maximum mouth opening with p-value set at < 0.05.
Results:
The overall mean MMO across the ethnic groups was 49.33 ± 7.91mm. Mean MMO for the Yoruba ethnic group, 53.06 ± 6.27 mm was found to be significantly higher than values obtained for Hausa tribe 52.77 ± 8.06 mm and Igbo tribe 47.59 ± 8.61 mm (p=<0.001). Age, weight and height were observed to correlate significantly with MMO. A multivariate linear regression model revealed that age and height were independent predictors of maximum mouth opening across the ethnic groups.
Conclusion:
There is ethnic variation in MMO among the 3 major ethnic groups in Nigeria with mean MMO values of 53.96 (± 6.27 mm), 52.77 (± 8.06 mm) and 47.59 (± 8.61 mm) for the Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo ethnic groups respectively. Age and height are important predictors of MMO.
Keywords: Maximum mouth opening, Ethnicity, Weight, Height, Gender
I’m as impressed as you are. Pretty highfalutin’ stuff these researchers get into, what with the multivariate analysis, anthropometric parameters, and linear regression models.. Could their pathbreaking work be turned into a Major Motion Picture titled “Open Wide”? Nowadays, you never know.
Westman says
Hugh, thanks for a bit of humor, always welcome after observing the fruits of Islam.
Will this research lead to exploring the relationship of Maximal Mouth Opening to mouth cavity resonance quality and amplification of the words, “Allahu Akbar”? I hear Allah knows best….
Big Dude says
Reviewer B
This paper opens up a new avenue of research. The authors are to be commended on their painstaking analysis of the anthropometric data. The use of regression analysis, however, may well be unwarranted unless the researcher defines the variety of covariates and ensures heteroscedasticity or homoscedasticity under linked covariates. That error, however, is understandable given the nature of the topic and the rather superficial treatment of the data.
I wonder whether the researcher is aware of the burgeoning literature in this field, this nascent area opened by the relatively new yet impact paper on ‘Swallowing with an Open Mouth: Anthropomorphic methods in the study of human behavior’. The paper, having appeared recently, may not be known to the author, which is understandable.
This reviewer respectfully requests that the author familiarize herself with the newer literature and perhaps offer an expanded paper, with proper attribution. One gets a sense of a quickly dashed-off paper. There is no room in this nascent field of anthropomorphic ‘laterimetry’ (Brachy, 2023, in press) to produce sloppy work. Certainly, the author can do better by citing the relevant literature rather than just giving the reader a hodgepodge of numbers.
Finally, i would suggest that the author consider the paper for one of the C journals, those journals specifically set up to take papers of this sort, papers which make a major contribution to an irrelevant topic. Having checked the author’s H index, i see it is 1.2, which is what i would have expected based upon reading the paper.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and comment on this effort. With work, it could turn into something of modest scientific value. The author is, however, commended for the effort to contribute this work to an important and evolving area. This reviewer has no doubt that with some rework, thinking, a literature review, new data analysis, and refocusing the paper, this effort will find its proper home in the scientific canon.
Yours Truly
Big Dude, MA, LLB, and consultant to a variety of journals as an editor and publication mentor. Available for other reviews and deeply involved in the creation of science.
Westman says
??
Keith O says
What is astonishing is that some crafty bastard probably got paid a shit load of money to do this and was probably banging at least one of his underlings as a means of them gaining extra credits for their college degree.
Well done sir, well done.
Rick Olsha says
NOT SURPRISED !!
AM ISRAEL CHAI !!!!!
Robert says
As new digital data is collected with the help of govt. subsidies the ability to collect optical and 3 D scans for free it seems that this is actually the starting point to standardize humans. Now who has that ability but one company globally that works along with the sun, WEF, WHO and more as well as being connected to most universities and hospitals worldwide.