Article

A method for estimating sex using metric analysis of the scapula.

Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, 211 Lafferty Hall, Lexington, KY 40506, USA.
Journal of Forensic Sciences (impact factor: 1.23). 12/2009; 55(1):149-52. DOI:10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01232.x pp.149-52
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT The most accurate and precise methods for the assessment of age and stature often require knowledge of sex. Thus, being able to correctly identify sex from skeletal remains is critical in the forensic context. The presence of the os coxae or skull can never be guaranteed, making the development of reliable methods of sex estimation using other skeletal elements necessary. Using a 724 individual calibration sample from the Hamann-Todd collection, this study identifies sexual dimorphism in the human scapula, and presents a new five-variable discriminant function for sex estimation. The overall accuracy of this method proved to be 95.7% on the cross-validated calibration sample, 92.5% on an 80 individual test sample from the Hamann-Todd collection, and 84.4% on a 32 individual test sample from the skeletal collection of the Wichita State University Biological Anthropology Laboratory. Additionally, a slightly less accurate two-variable model was developed and has cross-validated accuracy of 91.3%.

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    Article: Virtual determination of sex: metric and nonmetric traits of the adult pelvis from 3D computed tomography models.
    Summer J Decker, Stephanie L Davy-Jow, Jonathan M Ford, Don R Hilbelink
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    ABSTRACT: Examination of the adult os coxae and sacrum is one of the most common methods of sex estimation from bone. Medical imaging, such as computed tomography (CT), provides the opportunity for three-dimensional (3D) imaging of the skeleton from clinical scans of known individuals in situ. In this study, a randomly selected subset of abdominopelvic CT-derived models were used to evaluate simple, repeatable metric methods of sex estimation based on a combination of obstetric measurements and the traditionally nonmetric Phenice-derived traits. A four-variable discriminant function for sex estimation was developed based on statistical analyses. Overall, the cross-validated accuracy of this method was 100%, with inter-observer error showing an average of only 2.2%. Comparative analysis was run on the data set using FORDISC 3.0. This study shows that current sex determination standards from the pelvis should be updated to include more in vivo data to increase the accuracy of identification.
    Journal of Forensic Sciences 05/2011; 56(5):1107-14. · 1.23 Impact Factor
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Keywords

32 individual test sample
 
724 individual calibration sample
 
80 individual test sample
 
accurate two-variable model
 
cross-validated accuracy
 
cross-validated calibration sample
 
forensic context
 
human scapula
 
new five-variable discriminant function
 
os coxae
 
skeletal
 
skeletal collection
 
skeletal elements necessary
 
stature
 
Wichita State University Biological Anthropology Laboratory
 

Gretchen R Dabbs