Test of sex estimation equations on carpal bones in a Northeastern Thai population

Background. Sex assessment is an essential step in person identification, both in forensic and anthropological contexts. Many parts of skeletal remains such as skull, pelvis and long bones have been proven to be useful in determining sex. However, literature has shown that short bones such as carpal bones are also sexually dimorphic. In the last few years, there was an unpublished study using lunate, scaphoid and hamate from bone collection in Northern Thailand to create 6 discriminant equations to assess sex. The objective of this study was to investigate the application of those equations in the sample from other parts of Thailand. Materials and Methods. A sample of 50 individuals (25 males and 25 females), kindly supplied by Department of Anatomy, Khonkaen University, Khon-kaen, Thailand, was examined. The age of the individuals ranged from 48-87 years old for males and 38-87 years old for females. Results. The classification accuracies ranged from 82%-98% with right hamate yielding the highest accuracy. Conclusions. These results proved the applicability of those 6 discriminant equations in a population from Northeastern Thailand. Further studies should include population from other parts of Thailand.