HAND LENGTH AND COMBINED HAND–FOOT ANTHROPOMETRY FOR STATURE ESTIMATION AMONG CENTRAL INDIAN ADULTS

Background: Hand measurements can be used as anthropometric parameters for estimating stature if skeleton is missing. Even though hand length has a significant relationship with stature, their predictive power is sex and population dependent. Using anthropometric measurements of different body regions may improve estimation. This study aims to assess the association of bilateral hand length with stature and the applicability of combining hand and foot length to enhance stature prediction in Central Indian adults. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional observational study included 200 adults: 100 males and 100 females. The height, width of both hands and width of both feet measurements were taken. We executed comparisons based on gender and degree of side. The hand length was evaluated as an individual predictor by Pearson’s correlation coefficient and simple linear regression. Additional regression models were developed that incorporated right foot and right hand length. Results: The average length of the right hand in males was 18.62 cm with a standard deviation of 1.02. Mean left hand length was 18.54 ± 1.01 cm, 16.84 ± 0.90 cm respectively. The difference between sexes was significant (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the sides. In males, females and the total population, the r and p values were 0.61, p<0.01; 0.55, p<0.01; 0.66, p<0.01 respectively. The length of the left hand showed correlations with r = 0.59, r = 0.54, and r = 0.64. Males’ right-hand regression produced R²=0.372 while females’ produced 0.303. For males, the coefficients of determination were R²=0.612 for combined right foot and right hand regression and SEE=3.98 cm. For females, the coefficients of determination were R²=0.574 for combined right foot and right hand regression and SEE=3.91 cm. Conclusion: The length of the hand showed a significant positive correlation with stature. Even though foot length had better individual predicting ability, the combination of foot and hand measures improved the regressions’ explanatory power. This means that the use of equations based on anthropometric measurements could help estimate stature.