Estimation of Sex by Applying Discriminant Function Analysis on Osteo-metric Parameters of Clavicle in Population of Haryana

Abstract

It is important to pinpoint the identity of the deceased in scenarios such as decomposed bodies, skeletonized remains, mutilated remains, exhumed dead bodies, and in mass disasters. There are many important parameters to establish the identity of a person. The estimation of sex is one of them. Estimation of sex from bones is easy when the whole skeleton is available, but it becomes difficult when the body is mutilated and only parts of the body or bones are available. The present study is undertaken to estimate the sex by applying discriminant function analysis (DFA) on various osteo-metric parameters of the clavicle in the population of Haryana. Two hundred pairs of clavicles were collected from the bodies brought for autopsy. They were macerated and air dried for the removal of soft tissues. Seven variables of clavicle of both sexes were measured and analyzed using the analysis of variance test which provided descriptive statistics. DFA of the values helped in sexing of the clavicle. Estimation of sex from different parameters of the clavicle was possible with overall accuracy of 93% in original and 92.5% in crossvalidated cases among total cases. Accuracy was 96% and 90% in original and 96% and 89% in cross validated cases among males and females respectively, indicating a strong correlation in estimation of sex of a person from the clavicle. The most important parameters to determine the sex from the clavicle are length of clavicle, mid clavicular circumference of clavicle, weight of clavicle, transverse diameter of lateral end of right clavicle, and longitudinal diameter of medial end of the left clavicle.