Correlation Study Between Fingerprint Patterns and Rh Blood Group

Introduction: Establishment of identity is an important component of medico legal practice. Among the various comparative data techniques available for identification, fingerprints has long been regarded as the greatest contribution to the police force.

Objective:To establish a possible relationship between fingerprint pattern and Rh blood group.

Methods: The present cross-sectional study was carried out on 500 (250 male & 250 female) subjects of Indian origin above the age of 18 years, who were selected randomly from the students & staff members from various educational institutions of JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru.

Results: 93.8% subjects in the study were Rh positive, of which 31.8% belonged to blood group O, 29.8% belonged to blood group B, 24.8% belonged to blood group A and 7.4% belonged to blood group AB. Among Rh negative individuals, blood group B and O had same frequency amounting to 2.2%. 1.8% subjects belonged to Blood group A and none of the subjects in the study were AB negative. Fingerprint pattern analysis showed that, loops were the most common pattern in the study followed by whorls and arches respectively among both Rh positive and Rh negative individuals. A non significant association was observed between fingerprint pattern and Rh blood group.

Conclusion: The association between Rh blood group and fingerprint pattern was not significant. Hence the result of this study infers that Rh blood group is not an effective tool in predicting the primary fingerprint pattern of the individual when Rh blood group is known.