Regression Analysis for Stature Determination from Hand Anthropometry of Malaysian Malays for Forensic Investigation

Abstract

During the investigation of mass disasters cases, the primary aim of any forensic investigator is to identify the individuals by analyzing the disintegrated human body organs. Stature determination has been shown as possible using the measurements of different body parts. Hand anthropometry is found to yield important predictive information about an individual’s stature and may further help in narrowing down the possible matching identities. Literature review shows that a limited number of studies have been conducted on stature estimation from hand measurements. The present investigation is aimed to derive population specific regression equations to estimate stature from hand anthropometry of Malaysian Malays, since it is improper to utilize a single equation derived from a particular population for various populations.