The variability of palm print ridge density among Egyptians regarding distribution and sex discrimination

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sex determination, as a part of the biological profile of a victim or assailant, plays an important role in resolving different forensic cases as it reduces susceptibility to its half (fifty percent). Previous studies highlighted the role of palm print in sex identification, however, these studies were little when compared to fingerprints. AIM: To estimate the density of palm print ridges and to make an equation for establishing gender using gender parameters for a specific population (Egyptians). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 200 healthy young adults (113 males and 87 males, aged 1822 years) from Cairo city, Egypt. The palm prints were taken by inking method and four areas of the palm print were analyzed to count the ridge density of each palm print area. RESULTS: Females describe higher ridge density than males in all palm areas with a significant high statistical difference (p 0.001) for all areas of both hands. The areas of highest sexual discriminatory power for the right palm was Palmar area 4 (P4) and for the left palm was Palmar area 1 (P1) and sex could be accurately identified at an accuracy of 70%. In addition, there was a significant correlation for ridge density in each palm area and other palm areas. CONCLUSION: The current study raises hope for the usage of palm print a newly added tool for sex identification in the forensic field, thus decreasing suspicion by fifty percent.