Use of arm-span and foot length for estimation of height of the person

Abstract

Many characteristics can be used to identify a person. Age,
sex and stature are the primary characteristics for the
identification of an individual. However, in cases where the dead
body is highly decomposed or mutilated/ attacked by animals; in
cases of mass disasters, etc., where only part(s) of body is/are
available, anthropometry becomes an important aid for
identification of such dead bodies. Several studies have reported
the effectiveness of using various body parameters in predicting
body height and the arm span was found to be the most reliable.
Foot length is another anthropometric measurement that can be
helpful in estimating the stature. In this study, the correlation
between the arm-span/ foot length and the standing height of both
males and females was found to be an accurate predictor of the
stature and regression formulae were derived for calculating the
height of male or female with the arm-span or foot length. It was
found that deviation of the height calculated using arm-span from
the actual height of both males (± 3.06 cm) and females (± 2.6 cm)
were found to be less as compared to the height calculated using
the foot length both in same group of males (± 5.5 cm) and females
(± 4.9 cm).

Full text

J Punjab Acad Forensic Med Toxicol 2012;12(2)
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JOURNAL OF
PUNJAB ACADEMY OF FORENSIC MEDICINE & TOXICOLOGY
Cited in:IndexCopernicus, Scopus, Med-Ind and DOAJ
Volume 12 Number 2 Jul-Dec 2012 Pages 65-128
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Determination of hand from a fingerprint
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Use of arm
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Singh A, Kumar A, Chavali KH, Harish D. 87
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J Punjab Acad Forensic Med Toxicol 2012;12(2)
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Original Research Paper
USE OF ARM-SPAN AND FOOT LENGTH FOR ESTIMATION OF HEIGHT OF THE PERSON
Dr Amandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, *
Dr Ajay Kumar, Assistant Professor, *
Dr K H Chavali, Associate Professor, *
Dr Dasari Harish, Professor and Head, *
* Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Govt. Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32,
Chandigarh
Article
history
Received Nov 01, 2012
Recd. in revised form Dec 14, 2012
Accepted on Dec 14, 2012
Available online Dec 25, 2012
Abstract
Many characteristics can be used to identify a person. Age,
sex and stature are the primary characteristics for the
identification of an individual. However, in cases where the dead
body is highly decomposed or mutilated/ attacked by animals; in
cases of mass disasters, etc., where only part(s) of body is/are
available, anthropometry becomes an important aid for
identification of such dead bodies. Several studies have reported
the effectiveness of using various body parameters in predicting
body height and the arm span was found to be the most reliable.
Foot length is another anthropometric measurement that can be
helpful in estimating the stature. In this study, the correlation
between the arm-span/ foot length and the standing height of both
males and females was found to be an accurate predictor of the
stature and regression formulae were derived for calculating the
height of male or female with the arm-span or foot length. It was
found that deviation of the height calculated using arm-span from
the actual height of both males (± 3.06 cm) and females (± 2.6 cm)
were found to be less as compared to the height calculated using
the foot length both in same group of males (± 5.5 cm) and females
(± 4.9 cm).
Corresponding author
Dr.Amandeep Singh
Phone: +919646121610
Email: dramandeep@gmail.com
Keywords:
Anthropology, Stature, Identification, Arm
-
span, Foot length,
Regression formula ©2012 JPAFMAT. All rights reserved
Introduction
Anthropology is a Social Science that deals
with the origin, physical and cultural development,
biological characteristics, social customs and
beliefs of humankind. There are many sub-
branches of Anthropology, one of which is the
Biological or Physical Anthropology. It describes
anthropological research focused on the study of
humans in their biological, evolutionary and
demographic dimensions [1].
Identity is the birth-right of every
individual. Identity may be defined as the
distinctive characteristic belonging to any given
individual, or shared by all members of a particular
social category or group. The word Identity was
derived from the French word identité, meaning
"the same"[2].
Identification is an important element of
all medico-legal cases. Many characteristics can be
used to identify a person. Age, sex and stature are
the primary characteristics for the identification of
an individual [3]. However, in cases where the
dead body is highly decomposed or mutilated/
attacked by animals; in cases of mass disasters,
etc., where only part(s) of body is/are available,
anthropometry becomes an important aid for
identification of such dead bodies.
Stature is an important factor to narrow
down the missing person’s identity.Several studies
have reported the effectiveness of using various
body parameters in predicting body height [4, 5, 6]
and the arm span was found to be the most reliable
[7]. However the association of arm span and
height was found to vary from race to race [8, 9].
Even though several studies of this nature are
available on the western population, very limited
data is available on Indian subjects [10].
Foot length is another anthropometric
measurement that can be helpful in estimating the
stature, and hence, identification of the person;
particularly in cases of mutilation of the body as in
aircraft crashes or war scenario, where sparing of
foot is usually seen in most of the cases.
Ossification and maturation in the foot occurs
earlier than the long bones and therefore,
during adolescent age, height could be more
accurately predicted from foot measurement as
compared to long bones [11].
The aim of this study was to find the
correlation between the arm-span/ foot length and

J Punjab Acad Forensic Med Toxicol 2012;12(2)
88
the standing height of both males and females to
know which one is more accurate predictor of the
stature and to derive regression formulae for
calculating the height of male or female with the
arm-span or foot length.
Material and methods
For present study, total 400 (272 males
and 128 females) healthy subjects belonging to
various regions of Northern part of India, being
students of the Medical College, were selected.
Their ages ranged between 21 to 24 years. This age
group was selected because by this age the growth
of the individual ceases.
The Arm span of each student was
measured with a flexible steel tape from the tip of
the middle finger on one hand to the tip of the
middle finger on the other hand with the
individual standing with his/her back to the wall
with both arms abducted to 90°, the elbows and
wrists extended and the palms facing directly
forward. Foot length was measured as a direct
distance from the most prominent point of the
back of the heel to the tip of the great toe or to the
tip of second toe, when the second toe was larger
than great toe by spreading calliper. Height of the
individual was measured in standing erect
anatomical position barefoot on the platform of
stadiometer with the upper back and heels pressed
against the upright position of the instrument. The
head plate was brought into firm contact with the
vertex while the subject’s head was positioned in
the horizontal plane [11, 12].
Two readings were taken for all the three
measurements and mean of the two readings for
each factor was taken in to consideration. Graph
was plotted using first the arm-span and height of
the person and then using foot-length and height of
the person. Regression curve for both these graphs
were drawn. The regression formulae thus derived
from both the curves, were used to calculate the
height of the subject. The height calculated using
both the regression formulae for each factor (Arm-
span and foot-length) was compared with actual
height of the person and the deviation of the actual
height from the height calculated using each factor
was noted.
Observations:
A total of 400 subjects were studied in this
study out of which 272 were males and 128
females. (Fig. 1)
The mean height of male and females
subjects as well as the mean and standard
deviation arm-spans recorded is given in Table 1.
Graphs were plotted using these data for males
and females and a regression curves along with
regression formulae were derived using the same.
(Figure 2 for males and Figure 3 for females)
Table 1 Showing Mean and SD of the arm span
and actual height of the person
Anthropome
tric
Mean
(in
cm)
S. D.
Males Actual Height 165.96 6.33
Arm Span 166.40 7.20
Females Actual Height 156.40 5.03
Arm Span 157.44 6.62
Regression formulae using arm-span of the
subject:
Males
y = 0.770 x + 37.73
Females
y' = 0.650 x’ + 53.97
where x & x’ is arm-span of the male and
female, respectively and y & y’ is the height
calculated using the arm-span of the person.
The mean foot-length of both male and
female subjects was also noted and their mean foot

J Punjab Acad Forensic Med Toxicol 2012;12(2)
89
length and standard deviation is given in (Table
2).
Table 2 showing Mean and SD of the foot length and actual
height of the person
Anthropometric
Mean
(in
cm)
S. D.
Males Actual Height 165.96 6.33
Foot length 20.22 1.90
Females Actual Height 156.40 5.03
Foot length 22.63 2.23
Again, graphs were plotted using these
data and a regression curves were derived along
with regression formulae for the same. (Figure 4
for males and figure 5 for females)
Regression formulae using Foot-length:
In males
y = 1.4 x+ 134.2
In females
y’ = 2.771 x’ + 94.65
Where x and x’ are arm-spans of the males
and females respectively and y and y’ are the
heights calculated using the arm-spans of the
males and females.
By using these regression formulae so
derived, height of the individual subject was
calculated both by the arm-span as well as the
foot-length. This calculated height was then
compared with the actual height of the individual
and the standard deviation was found.
Table No. 3: Correlation of actual height with
the height calculated using arm span alone,
foot length alone and with both factors taken
together
Males
Females
Mean
(in cm)
SD
Mean
(in cm)
SD
Actual
Height
165.96
6.33
156.40
5.03
Height calculated using
arm-span of the person
165.89
5.53
156.39
4.31
Height calculated using
foot-length of the
person
165.89
3.12
156.38
1.07
Height calculated using
both arm-span and
foot length of the
person
165.89
3.81
156.39
2.33
Table No. 4. Difference of height calculated
from actual height
Standard
Deviation
of the mean
difference of height
Males
Females
Using arm
-
span of
the person
± 3.06
± 2.6
Using foot
-
length of
the person
± 5.5
±
4.9
Although mean and standard deviation of
the both these anthropometric factors were almost
the same but deviation of the height calculated
using arm-span from the actual height of both
males (± 3.06 cm) and females (± 2.6 cm) were
found to be less as compared to the height
calculated using the foot length both in same group
of males (± 5.5 cm) and females (± 4.9 cm). In this
study, the difference noted between the height
calculated in males and females using both arm-
span as well as foot length was statistical not
significant.
Table No. 5 Correlations of actual and calculated heights in males
N=272 (Using arm span)
Actual ht.
Cal. ht.
Actual
Height
Pearson Correlation
1
0.875*
*
Sig. (2
-
tailed)
.000
Calculate
d height
using
arm span
Pearson Correlation
0.875**
1
Sig. (2
-
tailed)
.000
N=272 (Using foot length)
Actual ht.
Cal. ht.
Actual
height
Pearson Correlation
1
0.497*
*
Sig. (2
-
tailed)
.000
Calculat
ed
height
using
foot
length
Pearson Correlation
0
.497**
1
Sig. (2
-
tailed)
.000
**.
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2
-
tailed)
Correlation of actual height with
calculated height using arm span as well as foot
length, was done and it was noted that both arm
span and foot length of the person had statistically
significant correlation with the height of the
person. Arm-span had higher positive correlation
(0.875, 0.856) as compared to foot length (0.497,
0.213) in both males and females shown in Table
no. 5 (Males) and Table no.6 (females)

J Punjab Acad Forensic Med Toxicol 2012;12(2)
90
Table No. 6 Correlations of actual and calculated heights in females
N=128
(Using arm span)
Actual ht.
Cal. ht.
Actual
Height
Pearson Correlation
1
0.856
*
*
Sig. (2
-
tailed)
.000
Calculate
d height
using
arm span
Pearson Correlation
0.856
**
1
Sig. (2
-
tailed)
.000
N=128 (Using foot
length)
Actual ht.
Cal. ht.
Actual
height
Pearson Correlation
1
0.213
*
*
Sig. (2
-
tailed)
.000
Calculat
ed
height
using
foot
length
Pearson Correlation
0.213
**
1
Sig. (2
-
tailed)
.000
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2
-
tailed)
DISCUSSION
Estimation of height using various
physical measurements has been attempted by
many authors. Chumlea in 1985, estimated stature
from knee height [13], while Mitchel in 1982,
correlated arm length with height [14]. The one
variable that proved to be consistently reliable in
estimating height was the arm span. Steele and
Chenier in a study on black and white women in
the age group 35–89 reported correlations of arm
span and height of 0.852 and 0.903 for black and
white women, respectively [15]. In a similar study
of blacks of both sexes in the age group 22–49, a
correlation of 0.87 was observed between arm
span and height. These results are almost similar
to the correlation obtained in the present study
(0.875 in males, 0.856 in females) for the arm-
span. Even though these relations are similar, the
estimation equations which we obtained are
clearly different from those of other populations.
This emphasizes the need for developing separate
models for each population group based on the
racial and ethnic differences in anthropometric
measurements.
Similarly, various long bones and hand
length has been used in the estimation of height by
many workers. However, foot dimensions have not
frequently been used to estimate the height of a
person. In our study, correlation coefficient
between height and foot length is positive (+0.497
in males, 0.213 in females), suggesting that it is
significant. Charnalia in their study found that
there was significant correlation between height
and foot length [16]. Qamra et al in 1980, derived
a regression equation between foot length and
height in their study consisting of North West
India population. They found that the correlation
coefficient between foot length and height was,
+0.69 in males and +0.70 in females [17]. Patel et
al in their study derived formula for estimation of
height using foot length (y = 3.64 x + 75.45 for
males and y = 3.43x + 75.41 for females) [11]. In
the present study, the formulae derived from foot
length were y = 1.4 x+ 134.2 for males and y’ =
2.771 x’ + 94.65 for females.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that both arm-span
and foot length can be used in estimation of the
height of both males and females. Different
regression formulae were derived that can be used
to calculate height when only arm-span is known
(y = 0.770 x + 37.73 for males and y' = 0.650 x’ +
53.97 for females where y and y’ is heights and x
and x’ is arm-spans of the person) or if only foot
length is available (y = 1.4 x+ 134.2 for males and
y’ = 2.771 x’ + 94.65 for females where y and y’ is
calculated height and x and x’ is foot length of the
person). It was also found that estimating height
by using arm-span as well as foot length showed
less deviation in females as compared to males.
Both these anthropometric measure (arm-span
and foot length) can be used during autopsy of
mutilated or decomposed body to assist in
establishing identity of the person.
Conflict of Interest
None Declared
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This article can be cited as:
Singh A,Kumar A, Chavali KH, Harish D. Use of arm-span and foot length for estimation of height of the
person. J Punjab Acad Forensic Med Toxicol 2012;12(2):87-91.