SEX DETERMINATION FROM DISCRIMINANT FUNCTION ANALYSIS OF CEPHALOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS OF BROKPAS AND PURIGPAS OF LADAKH (UT): A FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY

Forensic anthropology involves diverse applications of anthropological knowledge to medico-legal problems like human identification based on sex determination, age estimation, stature reconstruction and deciphering ancestry of unknown living individuals or skeletal remains. Sex can be determined by using different body parts such as extremities (legs and arms) parameters, head, face, clavicle, and others parameters. In present cross-sectional study, cephalometric dimensions of 800 Ladakhi subjects (431 males and 369 females) of Purigpas and Brokpas ancestry were taken. Descriptive statistics of cumulative cephalometrics in two sexes revealed that all the measurements were significantly larger in males than the females (p<0.001). Statistically significant sex differences were found in the various anthropometric, cephalometric and morphological features of Brokpas and Purigpas of Kargil (Ladakh, UT). Univariate discriminant function analysis found head length as the best cephalofacial variable to estimate sex of 73.4% individuals; followed by physiognomic facial length to estimate sex of 71% subjects. From multivariate discriminant function analysis, the physiological facial length, head length, nasal breadth, head circumference, nasal height, bizygomatic breadth, length of right ear and left ear breadth were selected as the best variables to correctly classify sex of 83.8% individuals to their category (81.9% males and 85.9% females). 'the present study results are the only cephalometric standards which have been suggested for Purigpas and Brokpas of Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) which can be used for medico-legal sex determination of unknown individuals of studied population.