Centre for Forensic Science, The University of Western Australia, M420, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, 6009 Western Australia, Australia.
Forensic Sci Int. 2012 Mar 10;216(1-3):199.e1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.09.010. Epub 2011 Oct 11.
As part of the formulation of a biological profile, the estimation of stature is an important element that provides useful data towards narrowing the pool of potentially matching identities. Recent literature has demonstrated that anthropometry of the hand has considerable promise for the accurate estimation of stature; although the technique has only been tested in a relatively limited range of populations. The aim of the present study, therefore, is to assess the reliability and accuracy of using anthropometric hand measurements for the estimation of stature in a contemporary Western Australian population; we also evaluate whether stature can be accurately estimated from the measurement of handprints. The study sample comprises 91 male and 110 female adult individuals. Following the measurement of stature, seven measurements are taken on each hand and its corresponding print. To establish the reliability of acquiring these measurements, a precision study was performed prior to primary data collection. Measurements data are analysed using basic univariate statistics and simple and multiple regression analyses. Our results show that the degree of measurement error and reliability are well within accepted standards. Stature prediction accuracy using hand and handprint measurements ranges from ±4.74 to 6.53cm, which is comparable to established skeletal standards for the hand. This study provides new forensic standards for the estimation of stature in a Western Australian population and also demonstrates that the measurement and analysis of handprints affords a novel source of profiling data that is statistically quantified.
作为生物特征分析的一部分，身高估计是一个重要的元素，它提供了有用的数据，可以缩小潜在匹配身份的范围。最近的文献表明，手部人类学具有相当大的潜力，可以准确估计身高；尽管该技术仅在相对有限的人群中进行了测试。因此，本研究的目的是评估在当代西澳大利亚人群中使用手部人类学测量值来估计身高的可靠性和准确性；我们还评估是否可以从手印测量值准确估计身高。研究样本包括 91 名男性和 110 名女性成年人。在测量身高后，对每只手及其相应的手印进行了 7 次测量。为了确定获取这些测量值的可靠性，在进行主要数据收集之前进行了一项精度研究。使用基本单变量统计和简单及多元回归分析来分析测量数据。我们的结果表明，测量误差和可靠性的程度在可接受的标准范围内。使用手部和手印测量值预测身高的准确度范围在±4.74 至 6.53cm 之间，与手部的既定骨骼标准相当。本研究为西澳大利亚人群提供了新的身高估计法医学标准，并表明手印的测量和分析提供了一种可量化的新型特征分析数据来源。
