Skeletal maturation of the hand in Iceland.

The mean time at onset of the stages of skeletal maturation of the hand, PP2=, MP3=, S, MP3cap, DP3u, PP3u, and MP3u, in a cross-sectional sample of Icelandic school chidren in Reykjavík, a total of 1426 (690 boys and 736 girls), was assessed on radiographs of the hand and compared with results published from Denmark and Greenland. On the whole, the Icelandic children were most ahead, while S appeared at about the same time in all three nations. Otherwise, the mutual relationship between the skeletal stages was very similar. Girls reached all stages significantly sooner than boys, and this agrees with the findings in Denmark and in Greenland. The sex difference was most marked in the Icelandic material. The accidental error due to method in assessing the differences in skeletal maturation proved to be less than 5%, similar to that reported by others.