Abstract

Background: The main purpose of investigating the damaged remains is to develop a
biological profile that identifies individuals by estimating the age, gender, and stature of
the remains. This profile helps to increase the likelihood of identifying the information
of the victim’s events or disasters. Estimating statures through human remains is based
on the principle that there is a linear relationship between statures and various parts of
the human body and bones. Hence; the present study was undertaken for assessing
stature and gender from thumb indices.
Materials &Methods: A total of 50 male and 50 female subjects within the age range of
25 to 40 years were enrolled. The length (in cm) of the thumb- was measured with the
help of Sliding Digital Callipers. The distance from the midpoint of proximal flexor
crease till the tip of the thumb when the subject’s hand was placed supine on a flat
horizontal surface with the fingers stretched and extended is taken as the length of the
thumb. For stature estimation, Stadiometer was used. All the results were recorded in
Microsoft excel sheet and were analysed by SPSS software.
Results: Mean length of left thumb among males and females was 7.23 cm and 6.85 cm
respectively. Mean right of left thumb among males and females was 7.21 cm and 6.88
cm respectively. Mean height among males and females was 164.9 cm and 155.3 cm
respectively. Significant results were obtained while comparing mean thumb lengths
and height among males and females. While assessing the correlation between thumb
length and stature among females and males, significant results were obtained.
Conclusion: Their exists a significant correlation between stature and length of both the
thumbs. So, even if only thumb is available it is possible to estimate the stature of
individual