Study on Correlation and Significance of Three Dimensional Measurements of a Dry Human Hip Bone in Gender Identification

Hip bone, also known as pelvic bone, is an innominate bone with no specific nomenclature for it. Hip bone is undoubtedly the most important evidence for sex determination of an unidentified individual from skeletal remains, followed by skull, sacrum and femur. The present study involves assessment of three dimensional measurable parameters, width of hip bone (W_hb), vertical hip bone axis (V_hba), and horizontal hip bone axis (H_hba), in relation to gender identification of a dry human hip bone. Dry hip bones, preliminarily assessed for gender, and greater than 18 years of age, were included, and those exhibiting sexual dimorphism and/or of lesser age were excluded from the study. The observations were tabulated and statistically analyzed. Significance level was assessed with p value < 0.05. Correlation study, linear regression type, was also done between V_hba and H_hba amongst the hip bones of the same sex. The present study reports significant and reliable findings in relation to V_hba and H_hba. Findings in relation to W_hb were however not significant.