STUDY OF CORRELATION BETWEEN ARM SPAN AND STANDING HEIGHT

Abstract

INTRODUCTION : Height is important for personal identication & determination of growth and nutritional status of individual. Estimation of inter-relationship between various body parameters and height has been an important tool in anthropometric measurements. It has been found to be of great importance in such cases where direct measurement of height is not possible. Estimation of Height can be done from incomplete skeletal and decomposing human remains where upper segment of body is available in case of accidents, natural disasters, murders etc. A wide variety of parameters are used for estimation of height including arm-span, hand length, foot length, demi span, knee height, sitting height etc. OBJECTIVE : To formulate the regression equations to estimate Standing height from Arm span. To nd the accuracy of Arm span in predicting standing height of both males and females in studied population. METHODS : This cross sectional study was conducted among 90 medical students consisting of 59 males and 31 females in Deben Mahata Govt. Medical College & Hospital, Purulia, West Bengal. Standing Height and Arm span of each student were measured using stadiometer and calibrated steel tape respectively. The data was analysed using SPSS Version 26 & Microsoft ofce Excel. OBSERVATION & RESULTS: The mean values of Arm span & Height were statistically higher in males than in females. The Arm span & Height showed strong positive correlation with each other in both sexes and the correlation was signicant (p<0.0001). Mean Arm span was more than Standing Height in both sex. Regression equation has been derived for estimation of Height from the value of Arm span for male & female individuals separately and also for total population. CONCLUSION:Arm span is a reliable tool for predicting the height of an individual and it can be used for both males & females. It can also be used for the medico-legal cases. This study will be useful for anatomist, anthropologists, forensic experts, nutritionists & physicians