RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WHORLS DERMATOGLYPHIC PATTERNS AND HANDEDNESS AMONGST STUDENTS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN ILORIN-NIGERIA

Abstract

Dermatoglyphics connotesfriction ridges on the skin, visibleon fingers, toes, and palms of individuals. These epidermal ridges, especially finger prints have proven to be viable physical features in criminology, medical diagnosis and genetic studies. Handedness; observed as an individual’s preferred use of a particular hand over the other, for daily activities has been attributed to the uneven distribution of fine motor skills between the left and right hand. We conducted this study in a bid to assess the distribution of whorls fingerprint patterns in relation to Handedness amongst a set of students in North-Central Nigeria for Identification. The study had 279 respondents via purposive sampling approach, with 148 Left handed and 131 right handed people. Edinburgh Handedness inventory was used to evaluate handedness and respondents performed 14 uni-manual Tasks to ascertain handedness. Fingerprints were analyzed, using a laboratory magnifying lens to determine the print patterns and their distribution among the respondents, after obtaining them via the ink and paper method. Collated data was analyzed via Mini TAT Statistics for Windows (version 16) and Microsoft Office Excel 2016. The Left hand in Right handed people had 51.6% whorls while the right hand had 50.8%. Similarly, 56.8% was the distribution of whorls found on the left hand in Left handed people whereas the right hand had 60.4%. T–test analysis of the obtained result showed no statistically significant relationship of the whorl fingerprint patterns and handedness (p>0.05).