Age estimation from morphological changes in pubic symphysis

Abstract

The present study was carried out to examine if Mckern and Stewart method (1957) could be used to assess the age from pubic symphysis of male individuals of the Dakshina Kannada District. Samples of pubic bones were collected from 50 deceased males of known age who were brought for autopsy to the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at a Tertiary care centre after obtaining a written informed consent from the relatives of the deceased. The analysis showed that the component based method of McKern and Stewart cannot be applied in its original form to the Indian population. The study established that the changes aiding in age analysis were more defined in the younger age groups and were obscured as the age advanced. It is also observed that the changes categorizing the bone in a particular age group commence at a later stage in the present study when compared to the reference studyThe likelihood of changes in each component of analysis being more pronounced in early stages are high compared to the older age groupThough analysis of pubic symphysis is useful in age estimation a study in bigger sample size will further prove the above hypothesis.