Estimation of stature from lengths of index and ring fingers in a North-eastern Indian population

Forensic anthropology involves identification of human remains in a legal situation. Along with the other three parameters of forensic anthropology, i.e., age, sex and ethnicity, stature estimation is an essential element of medico-legal investigations when identifications of unknown dismembered remains are involved. The present study was conducted with an aim to find the correlation between stature and the lengths of the index and ring fingers and to derive linear and multiple regression models for estimation of adult stature from the index finger and ring finger measurements. The subjects chosen for the study were composed of adult individuals belonging to the "Rajbanshi", an ethnic community of North-eastern India. A total of 500 adults (250 males and 250 females) aged between 18 years and 60 years took part in the study. All the measurements were taken using standard techniques. Stature, index finger length and ring finger length were significantly longer in the males than the females. The correlation coefficient (r) between stature and finger lengths was observed to be positive and statistically significant. Linear and multiple regression models were derived for estimation of stature from a length of index and ring fingers. The predictive accuracy of stature estimation was higher for the females than the males. It was observed that the values of the correlation coefficient (r) and the coefficient of determination (R2) increased in multiple regression models when compared to the linear regression models. The study also focuses on the usability of sex-specific regression models in forensic casework. The study concludes that such regression models, as those derived in the present work, can be of significant utility in the estimation of stature. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.