Estimation of Sex from the Upper Limb in Modern Cretans with the Aid of ROC-Analysis: A Technical Report

Abstract

Discriminant function analysis is one of the most popular methods employed for grouping specimens according to optimal combination of linear measurements. Many studies have used this method with the objective of producing population specific formulae for sex estimation from different skeletal parts of the skeleton. This study focuses on the long bones of the upper limb using Receiving operation characteristics (ROC) curves. A total of 173 well preserved skeletons of Cretan origin were used. A total of 12 measurements are taken from the bones of the upper limn. The diagnostic value of the single variables was evaluated using the Area Under the Curve (AUC). The cut-off values and the diagnostic characteristics of each variable (Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive and Negative predictive values) are presented. The correlation of normally distributed the variables will be tested with the method Pearson correlation coefficient. The level of statistical significance is set to p<0.05 (a-error). Means, standard deviations and F-ratios for all single dimensions are calculated by performing ANOVA with SPSS 13.0.All measurements are found statistically significant at the level of 0.0001. The best discriminatory variables was found to be radius length (91.3%) followed by humerus head vertical diameter (90.2%) and ulnar length (89%). Comparison with published standards for mainland Greece reaffirms a scope for developing additional standards for modern Cretans. Traditional methods use discriminant function analysis to study sexual dimorphism. Herein a different approach is proposed. ROC curves, known to be very effective in medical decision making, are employed in the evaluation of several variables as effective markers for sex identification. The method should complement multivariate statistical analyses.

Sexual dimorphism of the tibia in contemporary Greek-Cypriots and Cretans: Forensic applications

“…To date there are no data available on modern Greek-Cypriots while a large number of studies have been emerging recently for neighbouring Cretans [9,21,[31][32][33][34][35] and mainland Greeks [36][37]. The same situation holds true for Turkish-Cypriots with an increasing number of studies from mainland Turkey appearing recently [26,[38][39][40][41].…”

“…The recommendations for good practise in forensic anthropology by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology [45], the British Association for Forensic Anthropology [COP BAHID, 2015] [46] and the Forensic Anthropology Society Europe [FASE Basic Workshop, Coimbra, 2016] [47] mandate the application of population specific standards for any method of biological profiling; thus this work constitutes a step in the development of osteometric standards for Cyprus. Biometric datafor Cretans have been published before for cranial and postcranial elements[9,21,[31][32][33][34][35]…”

Stature Reconstruction from Percutaneous Anthropometry of Long Bones of Upper Extremity of Nigerians in the University of Lagos

“…Nevertheless, standard approaches do not always meet the needs of certain crime or death scenes, especially when highly decomposed or skeletonized bodies are involved [1][2].…”

Sex estimation of upper long bones by selected measurements in a Radom (Poland) population from the 18th and 19th centuries AD

“…Dimensions from the upper long bones (humerus, radius, ulna, and clavicle) have been used to successfully distinguish between the sexes in several European (Cowal and Pastor 2008;Bašić et al 2013;Kranioti and Tzanakis 2015), Asian (Sakaue 2004;Lee et al 2014) and African populations (Steyn and Işcan 1999;Barrier and Abbé 2008). In mentioned studies, different measurements have been shown to be good indicators of sex dimorphism.…”