Estimation of Stature of School Aged Children from Kazaure Emirate Using Percutaneous Humeral Length

Abstract

Stature has been one the most important factors in the description of the individual characteri-
stics for a long time. The aim of this study was to estimate stature using percutaneous humeral length in school children aged 5-12 years from Kazaure emirate. It was a cross-sectional study. All measurements were taken from 863 (432 males and 431 females) primary school pupils aged 5-12 years. The height and humeral length of the participants were measured. Results showed a sexual dimorphism in height where males had higher mean value for height than females (p=0.041). In the general population, right humeral length (RHML) correlated strongly with height and left humeral length (LHML) (r=0.921; r=0.992) respectively at p=0.01. Similarly, leftt humeral length (LHML) correlated strongly with height and right humeral length (RHML) (r=0.920; r=0.992) respectively. Correlation in female population showed a strong positive correlation between RHML and height (r=0.927); LHML and height (r=0.926); LHML and RHML (r=0.993) respectively with statistical significant difference p=0.01. Correlation in male popula- tion showed a strong positive correlation between RHML and height (r=0.916); LHML and height (r=0.915); LHML and RHML (r=0.991) respectively with statistical significant difference p=0.01. A simple linear regression equation that can be used to estimate the stature of this given population using the length of right and left humerus respectively is Height = (3.89) RHML + 23.84, and Height =(4.0) LHML + 23.44. Conclusively, percutaneous humeral length can be a reliable predicting factor for the stature of the studied population.