Duray S M, Morter H B, Smith F J
Department of Anatomy, Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, Iowa, USA.
J Forensic Sci. 1999 Sep;44(5):937-44.
Determination of race (ancestry) is an important step in the identification of individuals in forensic cases. Race is most commonly assessed using cranial traits. Few reliable postcranial indicators are known. In this study, the frequency of bifidity of cervical spinous processes at different vertebral levels was examined in a sample of 359 Americans of African (black) and European (white) descent. The sample was selected from the Hamann-Todd collection, a large modern anatomical collection of known sex and race. Spinous processes were classified as "bifid," "partially bifid," or "nonbifid" based on previously defined criteria. Sex and race were kept entirely unknown to the classifier (S.M.D.) during data collection. Data were analyzed using Chi-square and logistic regression analysis. At C2, most individuals (91%) had bifid spinous processes. At C7, nearly all (98%) had nonbifid spinous processes. Significant differences between race/sex subgroups were found at C3-C6. At each of these levels, whites showed a higher frequency of bifidity than blacks and males a higher frequency of bifidity than females. Differences between races were greater than differences within races. Logistic regression analysis revealed C3 and C4 to be the most useful levels for identifying race. Based on these levels, 76.05% of a validation subsample was correctly classified by race (80.25% for whites, 72.09% for blacks). Pending further study, morphology of the cervical spinous processes may provide an additional method for the determination of race in skeletal forensic cases.
在法医案件中，确定种族（血统）是个体识别的重要一步。种族最常通过颅骨特征进行评估。已知的可靠的颅后指标很少。在本研究中，对359名非洲裔（黑人）和欧洲裔（白人）美国人的样本，检查了不同椎体水平颈椎棘突双裂的频率。该样本选自哈曼 - 托德藏品，这是一个包含已知性别和种族的大型现代解剖学藏品。根据先前定义的标准，棘突被分类为“双裂”、“部分双裂”或“非双裂”。在数据收集过程中，分类者（S.M.D.）对性别和种族完全不知情。使用卡方检验和逻辑回归分析对数据进行分析。在C2水平，大多数个体（91%）有双裂棘突。在C7水平，几乎所有个体（98%）有非双裂棘突。在C3 - C6水平发现种族/性别亚组之间存在显著差异。在这些水平中的每一个，白人的双裂频率高于黑人，男性的双裂频率高于女性。种族之间的差异大于种族内部的差异。逻辑回归分析显示C3和C4是识别种族最有用的水平。基于这些水平，验证子样本中有76.05%按种族正确分类（白人为80.25%，黑人为72.09%）。在进一步研究之前，颈椎棘突的形态可能为骨骼法医案件中的种族确定提供一种额外的方法。
