Estimation of stature from anthropometric measurements of hands in living population of central India

Estimation of stature from dismembered body parts, as seen in cases of explosion or high impact vehicular trauma, is a challenge for forensic pathologist. There is need for population specific data for correct estimation of stature from dismembered limbs, as morphological traits of populations differ in different geographic regions. Present study was aimed at finding the correlation of stature with dimension of hands and estimating the stature by deriving regression equation in living population of central India region. Study included 300 young healthy adults (male=150, female=150). Standing height and dimension of right and left hands were measured in millimeter. Among males the highest correlation was exhibited by right hand length (r=0.592) and the lowest by left hand breadth (r=0.068) and among females highest correlation was exhibited by left hand length(r=0.524) and lowest by the right hand breadth (r=0.052). It is concluded that dimensions of hands can provide good reliability in estimating the stature, in the central India region population.