Measurement precision and reliability in craniofacial anthropometry: implications and suggestions for clinical...

Craniofacial anthropometry has become an important tool used by both clinical geneticists and reconstructive surgeons. Yet little attention has been paid to the potentially serious problem of measurement error. This paper examines intra-observer measurement error and precision (also called repeatability or reliability) for 52 commonly used anthropometric variables of the head and face. Two factors proved critical to reliability: magnitude of the measurement in question and the degree to which its constituant landmarks could be readily identified. Thus, all of the measurement variables with means above 10 cm proved to have good or excellent reliability. In contrast measurement variables with means below 10 cm were more likely to have poor reliability. This trend was especially evident in variables with means of 6 cm or less where 18 of the 20 variables in this range had poor reliability. The least reliable variables were those like philtrum breadth, columella breadth, and nasal root breadth that combine small magnitude with difficult to define landmarks. While these results suggest that it may be prudent to avoid using craniofacial variables with small dimensions this may be neither practical nor desirable. In such cases repeat measurements may be the best means for optimizing reliability.