title: Estimation of sex from the metric assessment of digital hand radiographs in a Western Australian population.
abstract: The forensic anthropologist is responsible for contributing to the identification of an unknown by constructing a biological profile from their skeletal remains. Towards achieving this goal, anthropologists can apply population and temporally specific standards with known error margins to morphometric data collected from a decedent. Recent research relating to the formulation of sex estimation standards has focussed on the assessment of bones other than the traditionally favoured pelvis and cranium, such as long bones of the appendicular skeleton. In particular, sex estimation standards based on morphometric data from metacarpals and phalanges have reported classification accuracy rates of 80% (and above) based on a narrow range of populations. The purpose of this study is to provide population-specific hand bone sex-estimation standards for a contemporary Western Australian population. The present study examines digital right hand radiographs of 300 adults of known age, equally represented by sex. A total of 40 measurements were taken in each hand (metacarpals and proximal phalanges); the measurements were then analysed using univariate statistics and cross-validated direct and stepwise discriminant function analysis. All hand bone measurements were significantly sexually dimorphic, with a tendency for the width measurements to express a higher degree of dimorphism than the length measurements. A maximum cross-validated classification accuracy of 91% was achieved with a sex bias of -6%. The standards presented here can be used in future forensic investigations that require sex estimation of hand bones in a Western Australian population.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Forensic Science, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: DeSilva
authors.affiliation: Centre for Forensic Science, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Ambika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flavel
authors.affiliation: Centre for Forensic Science, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia. Electronic address: daniel.franklin@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Franklin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D050278:Finger Phalanges / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D006801:Humans; D050279:Metacarpal Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D054881:Sex Determination by Skeleton / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Forensic anthropology population data; Hand bone measurements; Population standards; Sex discrimination; Sexual dimorphism