title: The reliability of Fishman method of skeletal maturation for age estimation in children of South Indian population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Determining the age of a person in the absence of documentary evidence of birth is essential for legal and medico-legal purpose. Fishman method of skeletal maturation is widely used for this purpose; however, the reliability of this method for people with all geographic locations is not well-established.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this study, we assessed various stages of carpal and metacarpal bone maturation and tested the reliability of Fishman method of skeletal maturation to estimate the age in South Indian population. We also evaluated the correlation between the chronological age (CA) and predicted age based on the Fishman method of skeletal maturation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Digital right hand-wrist radiographs of 330 individuals aged 9-20 years were obtained and the skeletal maturity stage for each subject was determined using Fishman method. The skeletal maturation indicator scores were obtained and analyzed with reference to CA and sex. Data was analyzed using the SPSS software package (version 12, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study subjects had a tendency toward late maturation with the mean skeletal age (SA) estimated being significantly lowers (P < 0.05) than the mean CA at various skeletal maturity stages. Nevertheless, significant correlation was observed in this study between SA and CA for males (r = 0.82) and females (r = 0.85). Interestingly, female subjects were observed to be advanced in SA compared with males.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fishman method of skeletal maturation can be used as an alternative tool for the assessment of mean age of an individual of unknown CA in South Indian children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, GITAM Dental College and Hospital, Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Rezwana Begum
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Mohammed
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Mamata Dental College and Hospital, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: V Siva
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Kalyan
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Mamata Dental College, Khammam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Saritha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tircouveluri
authors.affiliation: Sree Sai Dental College and Hospital, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Goutham Chakravarthy
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Vegesna
authors.affiliation: Sree Sai Dental College and Hospital, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chirla
authors.affiliation: Anil Neerukonda Institute of Dental Sciences, Bheemunipatnam, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: D Maruthi
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Varma
keywords: Age estimation; chronological age; forensic radiology; hand-wrist radiograph; skeletal age
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