Nasal Anthropometry as Predictor of Stature in Garhwal Uttarakhand: A Community Based Observational Study

Background: Human identification at the times of calamities becomes a challenging task for the forensic experts, especially when recovered bodies are in a state of mutilation. Stature plays an important role in identification of these unknown individuals. When other body parts are partially recoverable, estimation of stature from nasal parameters becomes important. So, it becomes necessary to find relation between nasal dimensions and stature, if it exists. Garhwal, Himalayas experiences disasters very often and owing to paucity of available research in this region, the present study was undertaken. Material and Methods: Multistage sampling was employed to measure males and females for their different nasal parameters and stature in all 15 blocks of Garhwal. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated using Statistical Package for Social Sciences {SPSS} with p-value taken significant at <0.05. Further, regression equation was designed for estimation of stature. Results: Statistically significant positive linear correlation was found between physiognomic nasal length and height in males. Regression equation for the same was formulated as Stature=153.11+0.303×Physiognomic Nasal Length. To the contrary, no significant correlation was found between stature and other parameters in males and for all dimensions in females. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggests that in Garhwal Uttarakhand, stature has positive correlation with Physiognomic Nasal Length in males. However, it can be concluded that nasal parameters have low predictive value for stature estimation when used alone. The accuracy increases significantly when other body dimensions are used alongside. Hence, forensic experts should remain informed about this fact during personnel identification.

Keywords: Forensics, Correlation, Identification, Disaster, Regression.