Height estimation by evaluating morphometric measurements of hands and fingers

Abstract

Biological bodily integrity is often lost in deaths due to undesirable situations such as femicides, natural disasters and plane crashes. For forensic scientists, accurate estimation of the person's stature is important for identification. In our study, it was aimed to obtain simple and multiple linear regression formulas required for stature calculation from hand and finger morphometric measurement values of young women. This study was carried out with the voluntary participation of 65 healthy young adult women between the ages of 18-24. Measurements were made on the palmar side of the hand using a digital caliper. In the study participants, the mean values of the measured variables; stature 164.45 cm, hand length 17.40 cm, hand width 7.70 cm, palm length 9.92 cm. Simple and multiple regression equations were obtained for stature estimation. The most reliable one of the regression equations obtained for stature estimation was the equation based on hand length. There was no correlation between thumb length and stature. The correlation value between index finger and stature was greater than the values obtained from other fingers (r=0.344, p<0.01). The correlation value between palm length and stature was higher than the correlation value between fingers and stature (r=385, p<0.01). Moderate and high positive correlation values were found between finger lengths and each other. The highest correlation value was between middle finger length and 4th finger length (r=872, p<0.01). The correlation value between thumb and little finger lengths was the smallest (r=415 p<0.01). The correlation value between hand length and stature is higher than the values obtained from finger lengths. In cases where total hand length cannot be measured, linear regression formula based on palm length should be preferred. Regression analysis results showed that palm length gave a better estimation of stature compared to finger length measurements.