Stature Estimation from the Hand Length: Testing Cross-Population Methods
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Anthropologia integra |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Full Text |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/AI2019-1-7 |
| Keywords | hand length; body height; stature estimation; regression equations; Reduced Major Axis regression method; average regression coefficients |
| Description | It has been established that hand length is a suitable parameter for stature estimation in forensic anthropology. However, such estimation is always compromised by population specificity of ordinary regression equations. Based on previously published statistical parameters (average values, regression coefficients) from 87 studies (212 different samples) available in literature, we developed a set of new cross-population equations for estimation of body height from the hand length (Reduced Major Axis Models, Average Regression Models). Subsequently, we tested the accuracy and preciseness of these new equations on five testing samples of primary measurements originating from Czech, Slovak and Bosnian populations and compared the height estimates with the results of traditional Least Squares methods developed on a Czech sample. The results showed that cross-population based models are not suitable for body height estimation from hand length unless they are limited to a narrower geographically confined population group (in our study Europeans of Slavic origin). We propose considering principally similar consequences when estimating the body height from a bone length in forensic skeletal cases. |
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