Estimation of height from the length of the sternum in an adult Indian population

Abstract

Stature estimation is one of the essential early steps during forensic investigation of human skeletal remains. The aim of the present study was to obtain a linear regression formula for estimating stature from sternal length of a central Indian population. The study includes 92 male cadavers brought for medico-legal autopsies. The linear regression equations were derived from manubrium, mesosternum and the total sternal length. The regression model provided a 95% confidence interval of ±14.8 cm and a correlation coefficient of 0.55. Compared with other studies, regression formulae based on the length of the sternum provided considerably larger standard errors than that based on long bone lengths. The study indicates that sternal length in relation with body stature shows a moderate positive correlation and relatively low reliability in estimating stature, and has limited forensic value.