Middle Finger Length is a Good Measure to Predict the Human stature-An experience from a Cross-sectional study at a Rural Community in India

Abstract

Human populations vary in physical characteristics so it is obvious that their bones should also exhibit a variety of discernable differences. The need to establish the identity of dismembered or otherwise unidentified human remains arise in cases of mass disasters like explosions, bomb blasts, mass murders, transportation accidents and natural calamities which is known as Disaster Victim Identification (DVI). The study consists of two objectives. First one is estimation of the stature from the length of middle finger among the study subjects and second one is correlation of the stature from the length of middle finger among the study subjects. This study is an observational study following cross sectional design conducted in a rural community among 500 participants. The study revealed that middle finger length (MFL) is a better predictor for stature determination among males (R2 =45.2%) than females (R2 =9.2%). By using regression analysis, formula generated to predict the stature by using MFL and that can be used among males and females. There are obvious variations in the level of development for adults. since this study was done only in one region of Karnataka, India, the result cannot be generalized to whole population of India.