Sex determination from dimensions of distal tibiae in adult Kenyans: A discriminant function analysis

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the utility of the dimensions of the distal tibial articular surface in determining the sex of an individual in a sample Kenyan population. Basic procedures: A total of 156 tibiae were obtained for the present study from the Department of Human Anatomy, University of Nairobi and the osteology collection of the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi. Measurements were taken directly from the bone using a digital pair of vernier calipers (Sealey Professional Tools™). Morphometric data were analyzed and measurements were expressed in means ± standard deviation. The independent Student's t-test was used to determine statistically significant differences in the means of the measured morphometric variables between male and female subjects. A step-wise multivariate discriminant analysis was carried out to produce a linear function to compare the measurements of the tibia. Main findings: Male subjects had statistically significant (p <0.05) larger dimensions of the fibular incisura, tibial plafond and medial malleolus. The width of the tibial plafond had the highest discriminating power amongst the measured dimensions of the tibia correctly classifying 73.0% of tibiae. Principal conclusion: The width of the tibial plafond has high discriminative power in sex determination using the dimensions of the distal tibia. The linear equation derived from incorporating the length of the tibial plafond and the depth of the fibular incisura could correctly classify 75.7% of the tibiae. The dimensions of the distal tibial articular surfaces can therefore be used in determination of the sex of an individual with reasonable accuracy.