An investigation of the relationship between long bone measurements and stature: Implications for estimating skeletal stature in subadults

Abstract

The present study introduces new regression formulae that address several challenges of current subadult stature estimation methods by 1) using a large, contemporary, cross-sectional sample of subadult skeletal remains; 2) generating regression models using both lengths and breadths; 3) utilizing both linear and nonlinear regression models to accommodate the nonlinear shape of long bone growth; and 4) providing usable prediction intervals for estimating stature. Eighteen long bone measurements, stature, and age were collected from computed tomography images for a sample of individuals (n = 990) between birth and 20 years from the United States. The bivariate relationship between long bone measurements and stature was modeled using linear and nonlinear methods on an 80% training sample and evaluated on a 20% testing sample. Equations were generated using pooled-sex samples. Goodness of fit was evaluated using Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and mean absolute deviation (MAD). Accuracy and precision were quantified using percent testing accuracy and Bland-Altman plots. In total, 38 stature estimation equations were created and evaluated, all achieving testing accuracies greater than 90%. Nonlinear models generated better fits compared to linear counterparts and generally produced smaller MAD (3.65 - 15.90cm). Length models generally performed better than breadth models, and a mixture of linear and nonlinear methods resulted in highest testing accuracies. Model performance was not biased by sex, age, or measurement type. A freely available, online graphical user interface is provided for immediate use of the models by practitioners in forensic anthropology and will be expanded to include bioarchaeological contexts in the future.

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