Determination of stature from foot and its segments in a north Indian population

Determination of stature is a major concern in forensic medicine and forensic anthropology. When highly decomposed and mutilated dead bodies with fragmentary remains are brought for postmortem examination, it becomes difficult to identify the deceased. In such a situation, even a small clue is useful for forensic pathologist. Determination of stature is an important parameter of personal identification along with others like age, sex, race, etc. The present investigation is an attempt to examine the relationship of stature to foot size of 1040 adult male Gujjars of North India in the age range from 18 to 30 years. In all, 7 anthropometric measurements were taken separately on both left and right feet of each subject. The results show that statistically significant (P < 0.01) bilateral asymmetry exists in T-1, T-2, and T-5 lengths. All the 7 foot measurements selected for the study were found to be strongly and positively correlated (P < 0.001) with stature. The highest correlation coefficients were shown by the toe length measurements (0.79-0.86). Regression analysis (Mean error = 2.03-3.61 cm) gives better reliability of stature estimate than the division factor method (Mean error = 3.27-4.32). The regression formulae were checked for their accuracy and reliability not only in the population group which was originally tested for their formulation (genetically homogeneous population, n = 1040) but also in a sample of mixed population of North India (heterogeneous population, n = 100).