Hand Anthropometry for Ascertaining the Stature

Need for Autopsy in every death –

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Hand Anthropometry for Ascertaining the Stature

“A man who works with his hands is a labourer,

A man who works with his hands, and his brain is a craftsman,

But a man who works with his hands, and his brain & his brain with heart is an artist.

Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hand, and at whom it is aimed.

Your life is in your hands. No matter where you are,

No matter what has happened in your life, you can consciously begin to choose your thoughts,

You can began changing your life, since there is no hopeless situation.

The faithfulness of the lord is so great that no mind can comprehend it,

No hands can fold it, no mouth can describe it, and no experience can compete with it.

All that our hearts need, is provided by our hands”.

In the process of an autopsy analysis, it becomes a formidable task for the autopsy surgeon to ascertain identification when an unidentified body is found in a mutilated & decomposed condition.

‘Anthropometry’ – the tool of physical anthropology, provides a scientific method & methodology for measuring, and observing the cadaver or the carcass. Therefore, anthropometry is being widely used in medical science, especially in forensic sciences, for the identification which is the pivotal step in crime investigations.

The forensic experts or the anthropologists can measure dimensions of the available body parts and record the measurements vide a mathematical formula as per gender and ancestry group. Such a regression equation formula has always proven to have the limited application since, they are specially computed for a particular population for estimation of stature. Ascertaining the stature from this formula is not always appropriate for every region, as climate, heredity and nutritional status of a region has been reported to have an effect on stature and length of long bones. Thus, the study on residents of one region is always not necessarily to be applicable for other regions also.

A cross-sectional study were conducted by the medical council, where every living individual from the respective genders were asked to stand barefoot on Standard anthropometric measuring instrument i.e., ‘Anthropometer’, which is also known as the ‘Stadiometer’ in an anatomical position with the head being oriented in the Frankfurt’s plane as the distance between the standing surface and vertex – highest point of head, by which the stature or the height were determined.

Moreover, vide a vernier callipers the hand length were measured as a straight distance from midpoint of a line connecting the styloid process of radius and ulna to the most anterior projecting point of middle finger.

Again, with the help of a vernier callipers subsequently the hand breadth was measured as the distance between the most prominent point outside the lower epiphyses of the 2nd metacarpal (metacarpal radiale: point most laterally projected on the head of the 2^nd metacarpal) to the most prominent inside point of the lower epiphyses of 5th metacarpal (metacarpal ulnare: the most medially projecting point of the head of the 5th metacarpal).  

To avoid diurnal variations, some individuals were selected for measurements each day at a fixed time in the afternoon between 12:00 hours to 15:00 hours.

The measurements of bilateral hands were taken separately for each individual, and were registered in centimetres (cms).

The cross-sectional study had exhibited the following:

• In the case of Females:

the mean stature ± Standard Deviation were 157.89 ± 4.68,

right hand length ± Standard Deviation were 17 ± 0.78,

left hand length ± Standard Deviation were 16.95 ± 0.78,

right hand breadth ± SD were 7.22 ± 0.42,

left hand breadth ± SD were 7.18 ± 0.41.

• In the case of Males:

The mean stature ± Standard Deviation were 165.91 ± 4.68,

right hand length ± Standard Deviation were 21 ± 0.78,

left hand length ± Standard Deviation were 20.95 ± 0.78,

right hand breadth ± SD were 10.22 ± 0.42,

left hand breadth ± SD were 10.18 ± 0.41.

• In the case of Transgenders:

The mean stature ± Standard Deviation were 167.91 ± 4.81,

right hand length ± Standard Deviation were 23 ± 0.80,

left hand length ± Standard Deviation were 23.95 ± 0.80,

right hand breadth ± SD were 12.22 ± 0.45,

left hand breadth ± SD were 12.18 ± 0.45.

The analysis demonstrates that measurements of hand can be successfully used for estimation of stature in individuals by forensic experts and anthropologists.  The bilateral variations were statistically significant (p < 0.001) for all the measurements of hand.

This analysis has significantly illustrated that – Stature had positive and statistically significant higher value of correlation with hand length as compared to hand breadth; but hand breadth measurements could be useful to calculate stature, only when:

• whole length of hand is not available (e.g., in mutilated body parts in mass disasters).
• breadth measurements used in combination with length measurements to formulate multiple regression equations to enhance the accuracy of the predicted stature.

The procedure of measuring hand length, in the use of determining the stature is simple in mass disasters or accidents, where fragmented or mutilated remains are recovered. Hand length

measurement exhibited statistically significant and higher value of correlation as compared to hand breadth measurement (p < 0.001). It was concluded, that the reliability and accuracy for estimation of stature were better in multiple linear regression equations than simple linear regression formula. The identification and evaluation of dead bodies or dismembered body parts is become a challenging task for forensic experts. DNA analysis could be the most accurate procedure for identification but it lacks in terms of reasonableness, affordability and time consumption in India. Hence, the identification from anthropometry like present study, involving hand measurement’s to estimate stature could be reasonable, convenient and simple.