Background: Stature estimation plays a crucial role in medico legal cases in identification of unknown bodies and in skeletal remains. A strong relationship exists between stature and various dimensions of different body parts for estimation of stature in forensic investigation.
Aim and objective: To estimate stature from per-cutaneous Tibial length measurements in people of Nellore district State Andhra Pradesh South India.
Type of Study: Descriptive cross sectional study with analytical and comparative components.
Place of Study: Department of forensic medicine and Toxicology Narayana Medical College, Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh State.
Material and Method: Stature: using the stadio-meter, the subject was made to stand barefoot in the standard standing position on its baseboard. For Tibial Length, Top point was the medial most point on the upper border of medial condyle of tibia and the lower point was tip of medial malleolus of the tibia, distance between these two points was measured by using spreading caliper to determine Per-cutaneous Tibial Length.
Observation and Discussion: The regression formulae derived for male was Height (y) = 87.38 + 1.92 * PCTL (x) and for females it was Height (y) = 62.93 + 2.45 * PCTL (x). Our study regression equations provided greater reliability in estimated stature and we derived regression formula. Kaore et al. reported in his study and commented that the regression formulae are more dependable than multiplication factor for stature estimation.
Conclusion: We conclude that the regression equations presented here can be used to estimate ante-mortem stature, with reasonable accuracy, of unknown mutilated or dismembered human lower limb remains from per-cutaneous lengths of tibia and fibula in medico-legal cases, particularly from Nellore district of State Andhra Pradesh.
Keywords: Per-cutaneous Tibial Length; Regression; Stature.