The determination of correlation between stature and upper limb and hand measurements in Iranian adults.

Estimation of stature is an important issue, which is significantly considered in forensic anthropology. It will be difficult to predict the identification of an individual when only some parts of dead body are discovered following disasters or criminal events. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between stature and upper limb and hand length in Iranian adults to generate regression formulae for stature estimation. Three anthropometric measurements; Stature, Upper Limb Length (ULL) and Hand Length (HL) were taken on subjects, comprising 142 male students (18-25 years) using standard measuring instruments. The data were analysed using SPSS 16. Then linear regression models were used to estimate stature. The results indicated a positive correlation between stature and upper limb and hand measurements. The correlation coefficient with upper limb length was r = 0.89 & p = 0.0001 and with hand length was r = 0.78 & p = 0.0001. In conclusion, we found a strong correlation between stature and upper limb and hand length. The regression analysis also showed that the Upper Limb Length give better prediction of stature compared to Hand length measurements.