Estimation of stature from percutaneous hand length among the students of a medical college

Abstract

Introduction: Anthropometry is commonly used technique for the measurement of bone and soft parts in Anatomy and other fields of science. It has practical implications mainly in the field of anatomy and forensic medicine. The present study is aimed to determine the average hand length with stature among the students of a medical college. Methods: A cross sectional study was done among 185 students including 98 females and 87 males of Devdaha Medical College and Research Institute. Hand length and stature were measured and collected data was entered and analyzed in SPSS 21. The differences in measurements of hand bone length and stature among males and females were calculated. The regression equation for the estimation of stature from hand length was calculated. Results: The mean hand length among the total population was 17.80±1.04 cm and stature was 160.50±6.73 cm. The mean hand length and stature were higher among males as compared to females. The range of hand length and stature among the total population is 16.00-21.20 and 146.00- 176.50 respectively. The regression equation for the estimation of stature from hand length revealed statistically significant value among the males and females. Conclusions: Our study reveals higher value of hand length and stature for males as compared to females. Also there is significant correlation between the hand length and the stature. The present values are obtained from the small population of an institute. Further studies have to be carried out to develop the regression formula for the Nepalese population with larger sample size.