Sex determination by the interarticular distance of metacarpals and phalanges: a digital radiologic study in contemporary Turkish people

Abstract

Objectives: The ability to determine sex from isolated bones and bone fragments is a necessity in medicolegal investigations. While the pelvis and cranium are the most useful bones for these determinations, they are not always available. The purpose of the present work is to obtain a discriminant equation for the metacarpals and phalanges in a live Turkish population.

Methods: Interarticular distances of the metacarpals and phalanges of the left hands of 22 males and 43 females were measured on digital roentgenograms. Means, standard deviations and minimum and maximum values were found.

Results: A multivariate logistic regression model was formed to estimate sex, with 72.7% of the males, 90.7% of the females and 84.6% of the pooled individuals being correctly classified when the cut value was 0.5.

Conclusion: We consider that the length of metacarpals and phalanges are potential bones that can be used for sex determination in forensic science. Radiologic measurements are an optimal alternative to population studies where the number of well-protected cadavers is limited or unavailable.  

Keywords

• digital radiology
• finger phalanges
• metacarpal bones
• sex determination