A Comparison of Different Age Estimation Methods of the Adult Pelvis

Abstract

The adult human pelvis is useful to estimate age because it contains three age indicators-the pubic symphysis, auricular surface, and acetabulum. This study tested the accuracy, inaccuracy, and bias of age estimation from the Suchey-Brooks pubic symphysis, Osborne auricular surface, Rissech and Calce acetabulum aging methods, and a summary age of these indicators. The study sample consisted of 212 White individuals with known age and sex from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. The Rissech method performed the best, was the most accurate method with smallest inaccuracy and bias, followed by the Osborne, Suchey-Brooks, summary age, and then Calce methods. Though the Pearson correlation showed only the Suchey-Brooks method to correlate significantly with known age, it is likely the Suchey-Brooks study sample coincidentally reflected the age distribution of this test sample. Results suggested that Bayesian prediction may improve age estimation and should be applied to other age indicators.

A Computational Framework for Age‐at‐Death Estimation from the Skeleton: Surface and Outline Analysis of 3D Laser Scans of the Adult Pubic Symphysis

“…The bias values show that our methods consistently overestimate the ages of young individuals (< 40) and underestimate the ages of very old individuals (> 60). When comparing our inaccuracy values to Miranker , we observe that our models perform least well for the 20–40 age group. Importantly, however, we show that they are more accurate when applied to all other age groups.…”

“…We evaluate the performance of our methods against recent publications by calculating the bias and inaccuracy values (Tables and ) for each of our proposed models as well as the mean of the age estimated and the correlation coefficient between the exact ages‐at‐death and the estimated ages‐at‐death (Table ). The bias and inaccuracy values are calculated using the formulae: and , where N is the sample size.…”

Validation of the Acetabulum As a Skeletal Indicator of Age at Death in Modern European‐Americans,

“…Forensic anthropologists frequently examine joint surfaces to inform their adult age estimates . All joints change with age, but some exhibit metamorphic change, while others exhibit degenerative change .…”

An Analysis of Hounsfield Unit Values and Volumetrics from Computerized Tomography of the Proximal Femur for Sex and Age Estimation

“…While the goal of age estimation is to approximate the exact age at death of the individual, in practice, an estimated range is more commonly used. A recent study by Miranker applied current pelvic‐based age estimation techniques, including Suchey–Brooks pubic symphysis , Osborne auricular surface , Rissech acetabulum , and Calce acetabulum aging methods on a modern population of Caucasian Americans. Miranker’s study limited accuracy to the correct inclusion of four age groups and not a linear regression as our current study, but she found a highly varied range of overall accuracy of age estimation from a very low 59.4% to a high of 96.11% .…”

“…Sex and age are two key elements critical to the creation of the biological profile in forensic identification. The pelvic bones are considered the most ideal structures for use in sex estimation .…”