ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF FOOT LENGTH AND ITS RELATION TO STATURE IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR POPULATION

Afshan Saleem 1 , Rachna Magotra 2 , Saima Rashid 2 and Shazia Gul 2 . 1. Deptt of Anatomy, GMC Jammu, University of Jammu, India. 2. Deptt of Anatomy, GMC Jammu, University of Jammu, India. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History

Identification is the birth right of an individual. To identify a person, age, sex, stature and race are the main four pillars. Extensive research has been done to establish these pillars of identity from various parameters of the body. So, anthropometry helps us in the reconstruction of biological profile of the deceased i.e, the age, sex, ethnicity and stature. Among these "big fours" of the forensic anthropology, estimation of stature is considered as one of the main parameters of personal identification. It is one of the most important and useful anthropometric parameter determining physical identity of an individual (Agrawal J et al, 2013) 1

.
Stature is the natural height of a person in upright position. Stature provides an insight into various features of a population like nutrition, health, genetic make-up, geographical location, environment and climatic condition. The stature of an individual is an inherent characteristic, the estimation of which is considered to be an important assessment in the identification of unknown human remains. The stature is a very sensitive trait that depends on age, sex, body composition, social strata and secular trends (Kozak J, 1996) 2 .
In the past, scientists have used several bones of human skeleton ranging from small bones to fragments of long bones for identification, but in recent times, foot is the focus of attention for identification. Forensic identification from foot or its parts is important as there is increased likelihood of its recovery from the disaster site (often enclosed in shoes). Also, foot is mostly separated from body in cases such as high power explosion, bomb blasts, airplane crashes and other high impact transportation accidents. For this, forensic podiatry plays an important role Ossification and maturation in the foot occur earlier than the long bones and therefore height could be more accurately predicted from foot measurements as compared to long bones in adolescence (Parekh U et al, 2014) 4 .

Aim & objectives:-
The aim of our study was to measure foot length and stature of a sample of population from Jammu and Kashmir State and to find out the correlation between these two measurements.

Methodology:-
Anthropometric measurements i.e, foot length which is the distance from the most prominent part of heel to the most distal part of toe (greater or second toe) was measured and foot breadth i.e, the distance between the most prominent point on the medial aspect of head of first metatarsal and the most prominent point on lateral aspect of head of fifth metatarsal were measured separately on left and right side of each individual using sliding vernier caliper. Complete stature of each individual was measured. It is the vertical distance between highest point on vertex and the platform of stadiometer. The subject should stand erect, barefooted on a level platform against the stadiometer bar with his back and hips touching the bar.The feet should touch each other and the heel should touch the bar and arms hanging by the side. The head of the subject should rest without any strain in the eye-ear plane or Frankfurt plane i.e tragion and the infraorbital margin of both the sides must lie in same plane.

Discussion:-
The present study was done to see any correlation between foot length and stature. There are various methods to estimate stature from bones, but the easiest and reliable method is by regression analysis. Measurements of foot length of both the right and left side were taken. The prediction function was derived through linear regression equations from foot length of both males and females separately.
In the present study, the mean stature was 173.36cms (SD 7.32) in males and 158.97cms (SD 6.13) in females. The males were found to be significantly taller compared to females. This could be because of the overall larger bony structure of males. Our results were similar to a study done by Kautilya VD et al 5 , 2013 who found that males were significantly taller than females with a mean stature being 172 cms in males as compared to 159 cms in females. Similarly, Rani M et al 6 , 2011 also did a study on medical students aged 18-22 years and found that males were taller than females. The mean value of stature in males was 169.5cms (SD 6.569) and in females was 159.519 cms(SD 5.859).

911
In our study, we found that foot length showed statistically significant correlation with stature and so can be utilized for stature estimation. Thus, both in males and females, foot length is the best parameter for stature estimation.
In our study we found that the right foot length of males with correlation coefficient of r=+0.761, exhibits comparatively higher correlation with stature as compared to the left foot length of males with correlation coefficient r=0.756 and these correlations are statistically highly significant (p<0.001). Thus right foot length is the better parameter than left foot length for estimation of stature. .41  FL Table1 shows the various studies done for estimation of stature from foot length in males. A positive correlation is evident between foot length and stature in all the studies and ranges between 0.583 and 0.821. The value of coefficient of correlation between stature and foot length in our study was found to be 0.761. The results of our study were similar to a study done by Tobias KE et al 7  In a study done by Babu RS et al 10 , 2013 the correlation coefficient was found to be lower as compared to our study (r = 0.583). This difference could be attributed to the different genetic and environmental factors.

Conclusion:-
Stature determination from foot length of dismembered body parts is important for personal identification, especially when the utility of DNA analysis is limited because of economic issues or other difficulties, such as wars or mass disasters. The present study was taken up with the aim of finding out the correlation between dimension of foot with stature and also to derive a linear equation for the estimation of stature from these dimensions. So the present study explores the usability of dimensions of foot as predictor of stature in Jammu and Kashmir population.
Thus, the dimensions of foot can provide a good measure for estimation of stature of an unknown individual. The high correlation coefficient between the stature and foot length indicates that the foot length provides high reliability and accuracy in estimation of stature in both the sexes. So, this study could be helpful in medicolegal cases especially in identification of severed body parts in forensic and criminal identification. Also this study may be helpful in plastic and reconstructive surgeries.

Conflicts Of Intrest:-
There are no conflicts of interest.