Stature estimation using foot length and BMI among students at a tertiary health care centre in Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Stature can be estimated easily with primary anatomic structures in intact corpses. It becomes very difficult to identify parted bodies  especially after a natural disaster, traffic accidents, war, terror and bombing in which people are dead and became unrecognizable. As  most of the time foot is protected by shoes it can be useful in these types of situation.10-12 We observed that foot was studied in  many cases to obtain information in identification when there was no other body part available. The aim of the present study was to  estimate stature from foot length and BMI based on statistical equations and formulae. The present study included 300 medical  students from SRTR Government Medical College, Ambejogai, Dist. Beed, Maharashtra, India. The participants (150 female and 150  male) were young adults between 18 and 24 years, and did not have any foot or related operation. We measured stature, foot length,  BMI and attempt were made to find correlation between them. In the present study it was observed that the minimum right foot length  (RFL) and left foot length (LFL) was 20.50 and 20 cm respectively, Maximum RFL and LFL was 28 and 27.80 respectively. The  mean RFL and LFL was 24.25 and 24.10 cm respectively. The coefficients of correlation between stature and foot length and BMI  were found to be statistically significant (p value <0.0001). Though supremacy of long bones for estimation of stature cannot be  ignored, it is more likely to come across footprints/isolated body parts during forensic investigation, thus justifying the measurement  of foot length as important determinant of stature.