Abstract

Introduction: The identification of deceased is essential during legal investigations, such as crimes resulting in fatality or discovery of unclaimed human body. Stature of an individual plays vital role in determining the identity of unknown person. Over the past decades, several anthropometric measurements of body segments had been used to compute the stature of an individual with variable degree of accuracy. Aim: To formulate the regression equations to estimate the stature from hand length. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in 197 students consisting of 100 females and 97 males, in College of Medical Science, Bharatpur, Nepal. Height and length of both hands were measured in each student with Stadiometer and spreading caliper respectively. The data was analysed using SPSS version 16.0. Results: The mean values of height and length of both hands were statistically higher in males than in females (p<0.05). A significant positive correlation was observed between the height and length of right and left hands in both males and females, (p<0.05). The coefficients of determination were 0.39 in males for both hands and that in females were 0.51 for right hand and 0.49 for left hand. The calculated height (derived using regression equations) revealed no significant difference from the observed height in both male and female students (p>0.05). Conclusion: This study provides regression equations to estimate stature from the hand length measurements, as hand length relates well with stature.

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