Estimation of Stature from Anthropometric Dimensions of Hand and Foot in Egyptian Sample

Estimation of stature from incomplete or mutilated and decomposed skeletal remains has obvious importance in personal identification and considered as one of the “Big Four” parameters required to assist in the identification of an individual. Hand and Foot prints are the most valuable clues and may be the only evidence that be available at the crime scene in the form of latent impressions and stature prediction from these prints may support stature estimation of suspects made by eye-witnesses. The aim of the present study is to analyze the anthropometric relationship between hand and foot dimensions with stature in Egyptian population sample. Measurements of stature, hand and foot dimensions were taken from 97 adults (55 males and 42 females) aged from 21 to 45 years following the standard technique. The results revealed that values of all the measurements are statistically significant higher in males than in females and the standard error of estimate (SEE) was lowest using the measurement of foot length (SEE ± 4.26-3.78 cm  for males and females respectively) followed by hand length (SEE ± 5.14-3.94 cm for males and females respectively). Stature was significantly and positively correlated with all hand and foot dimensions while the foot length followed by hand length showed the highest correlation with stature which concluded that foot length and hand length are the most accurate measurements for estimating stature with high accuracy in both sexes.