Assessment of Stature from the Percutaneous Measurement of Ulna in Healthy Volunteers

Background: Estimation of stature has a significant importance in the field of forensic medicine and anthropometry. For this purpose, an attempt has been made to derive regression equation formula to estimate stature from length of ulna, in the current study. Methods: This study was carried out on 300 (150 male and 150 female) healthy subjects in a medical college, costal Andhra Pradesh with age between18 to 25 years. For every subject; the height and length of right and left ulna were recorded. The measurements were always taken at a fixed time between 2-4 pm to eliminate discrepancies of diurnal variation. The measurements were taken for stature from crown to heel in standing posture with head oriented in Frankfurt's plane with a standard height measuring instrument. The data was analysed statistically SPSS software version-21 for calculation of Mean, SD, Standard error, Correlation coefficient, Regression coefficient, value of constant and ‘t’ test for correlation coefficient. Results: The correlation coefficients for right and left ulnae in males are 0.835 and 0.837 whereas in females 0.772 and0.774 respectively. The difference in mean length of ulna in males and females was found to be statistically significant (P <0.001). Conclusion: The lengths of ulna will aid better reliability in estimation of an individual stature in medico legal forensic examinations.