Estimation of Stature from Percutaneous Length of Humerus: A Research Study

Identity of the dead and mutilated is an essential part of medico-legal investigations. Stature estimation, being an identity marker, is easier in a living subject as it is usually measured as standing height; however, difficulty arises when a dead body is decomposed or skeletonized. Various bones have been employed to develop regression formulas for stature estimation. Regression formulas developed for one population may not be suitable for stature estimation in another population. So, there is a need to develop population-specific regression formulas for stature estimation. The study was conducted to develop a regression formula for north Indian population (medical students) for stature estimation using percutaneous length of humerus bone. The study was conducted on 90 participants in the age group of 18–23 years undergraduate medical students at MMMC&H, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. There was a linear relationship between length of humerus (both sides) and stature in both males and females. In males, each 1 cm increase in length of right humerus leads to 0.672 cm increase in stature, while with 1 cm increase in left humerus leads to 0.666 cm increase in stature. In females, each 1 cm increase in length of right or left humerus leads to 0.813 cm increase in stature. The present study shows a linear relationship between stature and humerus length in both males and females. So, stature can be estimated with effective precision from humerus bone that may help in the identification of remnants of unidentified bodies by means of regression equations.