Anthropometric Sexual Dimorphism of Hand Length, Breadth and Hand Indices of University of Port-Harcourt Students

Abstract

Forensic anthropometry incorporates most of the techniques originating from the analysis of human skeletal material from archaeological sites .Hand index which is derived from hand dimensions can be used to estimate differences related to sex, age and race in forensic and legal sciences. This study estimated the sex of Nigerian student from hand measurements. Three hundred students (150 males and 150 females) from University of Port-Harcourt Nigerian with age ranges of 18-30 years were used .The hand breadth and length of these subjects were measured using an automatic sliding caliper. The hand index was calculated as percentage of hand breadth over the hand length .The statistical analysis of the data obtained showed that male hand dimension was significantly higher than those of the females at p ＜ 0.05. In general the left hand length was obviously higher than the right hand length while in the breadth there was a reverse. The male data revealed a mean right hand length and breadth of 19.02 ± 0.08 and 8.58 ± 0.03, with a mean left hand length and breadth of 19.09 ± 0.07 and 8.43 ± 0.03. On the other hand, the female mean right hand length and breadth was 17.62 ± 0.07 and 7.69 ± 0.03 with a mean left hand length and breadth of 17.69 ± 0.07and 7.58 ± 0.03.The hand index obtained showed higher value for male than female with right and left mean value of 45.16 ± .19 and 44.21 ± .17 as compared to female mean right and left hand index of 43.68 ± 0.19 and 42.90 ± 0.19. The average hand indices of left and right hand for both male and female are 44.68 ± 0.13 and 43.29 ± 0.14, respectively. The results of the hand index suggest that the population studied belong to two groups of hand dimension, the dolichocheir and the mesocheir group.