Stature Estimation Using Ulnar Length and Shoulder Elbow Length in a Bangladeshi Population

Abstract

In forensic science, the stature estimation from different parts of the human body, particularly in personal identification, has gained considerable importance due to mass disasters like cyclones, earthquakes, mass accidents, terror attacks etc. Moreover, clinically stature estimation is also essential to assess physical growth, nutrition, and calculating body surface area. Therefore, the present study was intended to develop the standard formula to evaluate the stature of a person using ulnar length and shoulder elbow length in Bangladeshi adult population. The study was carried out on arbitrarily selected 300 healthy adult individuals (150 males and 150 females). At first, several statistical tests were applied to analyze the collected data. Then, sex-specific simple linear regression, stepwise regression, and multiple regression models were applied to develop the models for estimating the stature based on shoulder elbow length and ulnar length. The results showed the insignificant bilateral differences (p > 0.05) of the ulnar length and shoulder elbow length measurements in both sexes. The coefficients of correlation between stature and all measurements were significantly positive (p < 0.001). In this study, the ulnar length showed a better relationship with stature than shoulder elbow length in both sexes with a lower value SEE and higher values of R and R2. Also, the multiple regression models gave better results than the simple and stepwise regression models due to higher R values and lower SEE. This study concludes that the ulnar length and the shoulder elbow length are significant parameters to estimate the stature in Bangladeshi adult’s population.