NCJ Number
226889
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 54 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2009 Pages: 546-550
Date Published
May 2009
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Five hundred hands (230 males and 270 females ) from North and South regions of India were studied in order to determine whether gender could be determined from hand dimensions (hand length, hand breadth, and palm length).
Abstract
The study found that the morphmetric parameters of the hand can distinguish gender for both North and South Indian populations, with hand breadth being the most reliable gender discriminator for the sample. Gender differences were found to be statistically significant only for the hand index on the left side, however, indicating that hand index and palm index are poor indicator of genders. The findings show that the method used in this study can be useful in determining the gender of an unknown person whose dismembered hand is available for medicolegal analysis; however, this study was limited to subjects of similar age, profession, handedness, environment, and socioeconomic background in two regions of India. Similar studies are recommended for various ethnic groups and regions. The study was conducted on 500 right-handed medical students between 20-30 years old. Separate studies were conducted on Indians from the North (120 males and 100 females) and the South (110 males and 170 females) of India. North and South Indians are believed to differ in body constitution, primarily due to the climatic variations in the two regions. The three morphmetric parameters were recorded for each hand to the nearest mm, using vernier calipers. The placement of the hands for the measurements are described in detail. 5 tables, 4 figures, and 24 references