Influence of age on perception of asymmetry

Abstract

Introduction: The perception of a face is subjective and it can vary with age, therefore the features in a face acceptable to a youngster and an adult might be different. As a result, achieving satisfactory results can be a challenge owing to the different requirements for different age groups. The aim of the study was to assess the agreement of subjective evaluation of mandibular asymmetry between the laypersons belonging to different age groups.

Material and methods: 60 laypersons fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected and divided into two groups, 30 observers in each. The mean age of the observers was 15.4±1.13 years (14-17years) and 49.7±8.6 years (31 and above) in group 1 and 2 respectively. The observers were shown 43 photographs of patients with varying degree of mandibular asymmetry. Each rater determined the presence or absence of asymmetry and stated whether the asymmetry if present is within acceptable range or whether it necessitates correction and a score of 0, 1 or 2 was given accordingly. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0.

Results:  The difference in mean score given by both groups was statistically insignificant with a p value of 0.7. There was substantial agreement between both the groups as shown by the kappa value (0.738).

Conclusions: Age did not influence the perception of asymmetry however; the males were more sensitive to the presence of facial imbalance.