Comparative Analysis of Cranial Capacity with Body Mass Index and Academic Performance of First Year Medical Students

• Main Authors: Mariappan Senthiappan Arathi, Ganesan Durga Devi, Dorairaj Sreelekha, Rajasundaram Archana, Mariappan Senthiappan Anandi, Manickam Subramanian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2018-10-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
• Subjects: body weight; cranial volume; individual intelligence; mental ability
• Online Access: https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/12137/36370_CE[Ra1]_F(SL)_PF1(MJ_AJ_AP)_PN(P).pdf

Introduction: The cranial capacity indirectly reflects the volume of the brain, hence may predict the mental ability of an individual. Aim: To estimate the cranial capacity and correlate it with Body Mass Index (BMI) and academic performance of first-year students of a Medical College in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, india. Materials and Methods: A total of hundred first year MBBS students aged between 17 and 19 years were selected for the present study from Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Chrompet, Chennai, India. Cranial capacity and BMI were calculated by standard methods. The average academic performance during the year was obtained by calculating the average of the total marks secured in the academic year. All the above data were tabulated and analysed statistically by using Pearson’s correlation test and Paired Student t-test. Results: The cranial capacity had no significant correlation with the academic performance in the present study. However, the BMI had a significant correlation with cranial capacity; this may be because larger cranial capacity is required for controlling larger muscular body mass. Conclusion: The present study showed a larger cranial capacity was related with increased BMI and hence may be helpful in the medicolegal and anthropological examination to find the relations between cranial capacity and age, height, body weight and BMI. There was no significant correlation between academic abilities with cranial capacity.