Estimation of Stature from Hand Length and Hand Breadth among Population Groups of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Estimation of stature is an important parameter in medico legal examinations and anthropological studies. This paper demonstrates that the anthropometry of hand plays a significant role in estimating stature. The aim of the present study is to compute regression equation from hand measurements (Length and Breadth) and to find the difference from direct and indirect measurements for the estimation of stature among population groups of Himachal Pradesh, India. The present investigation is based on the hand prints of 73 Rajput (34 male and 39 female)and 110 Brahmin (48 male and 62 female) with age group 20-60 years of Sunder Nagar, District- Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India by the ink method (kapoor,1987). Hand lengths (direct) was measured with the help of sliding caliper from bracelet crease to the tip of the print of the middle finger and Hand breadth (indirect) was measured between meta carpel radiale and meta carpel ulnare with the help of sliding caliper. Hand length and Hand breadth (indirect) was measured from the palm print taken on a plain paper. The stature of each subject was measured following the standard techniques of Martin and Seller (1959). Result was analyzed with the help of SPSS-17 using basic statistics and t-test, simple linear regression and correlation. In the present study regression equation has been computed in order to observe the possible predictor of estimating stature from direct and indirect measurements among males and females.