Determination of Gender from Various Measurements of the Humerus

Objective To study different measurements of the humerus for the determination of sex Study design A cross-sectional study Place and duration of study The Anatomy Department of Nishtar Medical University and Hospital from June 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019. Methodology Six measurements, including maximum length of the humerus (MLH), maximum diameter of the head of the humerus (MDH), vertical diameter of the head of the humerus (VDH), transverse diameter of the head of the humerus (TDH), epicondylar breadth (EB), and condylar breadth (CB) were calculated for 122 male humeri and 52 female humeri. These variables were compared between both genders using the student’s t-test. Wilks’ lambda test was applied. The demarking point of all these variables was defined as the average of the means of male and female measurements. Correctly identified cases were calculated in the male group, the female group, and the whole study group. Data analysis was done in SPSS v.23.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY). P>0.05 was statistically insignificant. Results The differences of MLH, MDH, VDH, TDH, EB, and CB were statistically significant between both the genders (p<0.001). The accuracy of MLH was 85% in the total population. The accuracy of MDH, VDH, and TDH was 76%, 85%, and 76% in the total population, respectively. EB and CB correctly identified 75% and 78% of all the bones. Conclusion This study shows that maximum humeral length and the vertical diameter of the humeral head are the two most important measurements with the highest accuracy for the determination of gender from the skeletal remains of the human body in the South-East Asian population.