Estimation of the height by using hand-span; a clinical forensic study

Introduction

For identification of the dead, the assessment of height is important. There is a folk knowledge among sculptors that the height is eight times the hand-span. This research was conducted to assess whether there is a relationship between hand-span and heightin adults. 

 

Methodology

A cross-sectional study was performed on consented adults attending a provincial hospital. From the hand-span (X) a hypothesis was made. Height= Head (1X)+Trunk (3X)+ Thigh (2X)+ Leg (2X)= 8X. Data were collected from 340 participantsand were analyzed using SPSS-19.

 

Results                                                                 

Of the participants 82% (n=279) were females. Ages ranged from 18–74 years (mean 28.8 +/- SD 10.099). Heights ranged from 51-72 inches (mean 62.27 +/-SD3.007). The hand-span ranged from 6-9 inches (mean 7.490 +/-SD 0.587). There is a positive high correlation between hand-span and height (r=0.651) for males whilst a positive moderate correlation (r=0.461) for females (p=0.000). In Regression Analysis, though age was not statistically significant for both males (p=0.539) and females(p=0.477), the F value was significant (p=0.000) and hand-span showed a positive effect on the determination of the height of both males and females even controlling for age. According to Independent Sample T-test, the relationship between means of ‘hand-span x 8’ with gender had a highly statistically significant association (t = 5.325, df = 325 and p=0.000) and the mean values for males was 62.78 with SE +/- 0.51 inches and for the females, the mean was 59.31 with SE +/- 0.28 inches.

 

Conclusions

The study formulated the following formula. Person’s height=hand-span x 8 +/- SE inches.Further, according to this study, the probable height of a male in inches = hand-span x 8 +/- 0.51 inches. For the females, the probable height in inches = hand-span x 8 +/- 0.28 inches. Finally, a national scale research is recommended.