Stature estimation from regression analysis of facial anthropometry in Indian population

BACKGROUND: Stature or body height is one of the most important and useful anthropometric parameters which determines the physical identity of an individual. As craniofacial structures have the advantage of being composed largely of hard tissue which is relatively indestructible, the careful study of these can enable reliable determination of stature of the person in life. Studies pertaining to stature estimation from facial measurements are limited in an Indian population. The present investigation attempts to estimate stature from anthropometric dimensions of face. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The material for the present study comprises 361 Indian students (151 males and 210 females) in the age range of 21–45 years. Stature and six facial measurements were taken on each participant following standard methods and techniques. Karl Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regression were done to estimate stature. RESULTS: The results indicate that facial measurements are strongly and positively correlated (P < 0.001) with stature. The accuracy of the computed equations was further tested on 50 randomly selected study participants of each group, which shows close approximation of actual and estimated stature. CONCLUSION: Within the limits of this study, we conclude that facial dimensions can be used as a supplementary approach for the estimation of stature but with caution, as these are population-specific approach.