Stature estimation from hand measurements in South Indian population

Abstract

In many cases, only a part of the body may be found in the crime scene. In such cases, partial identification of the deceased is possible. Stature is one such criterion which helps in the partial identification of an unidentified body. Researchers have estimated the stature where only a fragment of a body part like a hand is available. But owing to the geographical diversity, the same formula may not be applicable to all. Hence this study was undertaken to see the relationship and estimate the stature from different hand measurements in a south Indian population. The overall maximum correlation was found in right palmar length among males (r=0.567) followed by left palmar length among females (r=0.559). The palm length showed a higher correlation with stature than the palm breadth in both sexes. In females, the least correlation with stature was found with the right middle finger length (r=0.186), followed by the left middle finger length (r=0.191). Among the digits, the right middle finger length of the males showed a higher correlation (r=0.372) followed by the left middle finger length ofmales (r=0.370).