Soft tissue evaluation as a correction factor for stature estimation
Date
2010-09-07
Authors
Bidmos, Mubarak Ariyo
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
The anatomical method of stature estimation, as it is applied today, was
introduced by Georges Fully in 1956. While some authors consider it to be the most
accurate method of stature estimation, others regard it to be inadequate as it
underestimates living stature, possibly due to an error in the magnitude of Fully’s soft
tissue indices. Nevertheless, Fully’s technique (1956) remains the only usable method
for formulation of regression equations for estimation of stature in South Africa.
Since long bones of the upper and lower limbs are sometimes recovered in various
states of fragmentation, this study investigates the usefulness of measurements of
fragments of the femur and intact metatarsals from cadaver derived skeletons of
indigenous South Africans (ISA) and South Africans of European Descent (SAED) in
stature reconstruction. In addition, the reliability of Fully’s soft tissue correction
index was assessed on a sample of living ISA males. Analyses of data collected from
240 complete skeletons obtained from the Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human
Skeletons revealed that moderate to high correlations exist between measurements of
fragments of femur and skeletal height. Subsequently, population and sex specific
regression equations for the estimation of skeletal height and maximum length of the
femur were derived. The equations derived for the direct estimation of stature from
fragments of the femur provide more accurate results compared to the indirect
method. Regression equations were also derived from 6 measurements of metatarsals.
The standard error of estimate for equations derived from metatarsal lengths was
lower than that obtained for other skeletal elements studied so far for stature
estimation in South Africans with the exception of intact long bones and fragments of
the femur. Fully (1956) instructed that a soft tissue correction factor should be added
to skeletal height in order to obtain an estimate of living stature. The estimate of living stature obtained from the addition of appropriate soft tissue indices of Fully
(1956) and Raxter et al. (2006) to skeletal height calculated from MRI scan of 28
living subjects was found to be significantly lower than the measured living stature.
This necessitated the derivation of new soft tissue index for ISA males. The accuracy
of this new soft tissue correction index was found to be 100%.