Sex Discrimination Using the Index and Ring Finger Lengths in Ukwuani People of Nigeria

Korean J Leg Med 2019;43:144-152

Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria

E-mail: deeboh@delsu.edu.ng, drebohdennis@gmail.com

The biological profile of a person is crucial in the forensic anthropology casework; and sexual dimorphism of the index and ring fingers makes them a vital tool for sex prediction. This study was undertaken to predict the sex of an individual from the index and ring finger lengths, and index-ring finger length ratio in the Ukwuani of Nigeria. It was a cross-sectional study involving all the indigenous Ukwuani secondary school students and members of staff within Ukwuani local government area that utilized 200 male and 200 female adolescents and 68 male and 83 female adults based on the systematic random sampling technique. The index and ring finger lengths were measured and the index:ring finger ratio calculated. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistics version 23.0. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Statistics used were mean, standard deviation, t test, Pearson’s correlation, and discriminant function analysis. Males showed statistically longer absolute finger lengths than females. The left index:ring finger ratio in adolescents was significantly greater in females than males, but the others were not. There were significant paired sample correlations in both age groups. There was no significant correlation between age and finger lengths, and ratios. The overall accuracy of the discriminant functions was higher and better for the finger lengths than for the finger ratios that were moderate. This study showed that the index and ring finger lengths can be used as tools to predict the sex of an individual using the discriminant function analysis in a medico-legal situation.

Key Words: Discriminant analysis; Fingers; Forensic anthropology; Nigeria; Sex determination