Scoring system for estimating age in the foot skeleton

Scoring system for estimating age in the foot skeleton

This study assesses chronological age of immature individuals from the degree of ossification evident in the foot skeleton. We considered all tarsal and ray bones in various combinations to determine the most sensitive indicators of chronological age. Skeletal maturity was rated according to a subje...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of physical anthropology Vol. 118; no. 4; pp. 385 - 392
Main Authors: Whitaker, Jeffrey M., Rousseau, Leslie, Williams, Trevor, Rowan, Reed A., Hartwig, Walter Carl
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01-08-2002
Wiley-Liss
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Determination by Skeleton - methods
calcaneus
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Foot - growth & development
growth
Human paleontology
Humans
Infant
Male
Mankind origin and evolution
maturation
Methodology and general studies
ossification
Osteogenesis
Prehistory and protohistory
Growth
Sex
Human palaeontology
Skeleton
Age
Osteology
Foot
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Summary:This study assesses chronological age of immature individuals from the degree of ossification evident in the foot skeleton. We considered all tarsal and ray bones in various combinations to determine the most sensitive indicators of chronological age. Skeletal maturity was rated according to a subjective but simple scoring system applied to radiographs of normal feet of children of known chronological age. Scales for assessing the primary center of ossification, secondary center of ossification, and state of fusion are defined. In general, as expected, females show earlier onset of skeletal maturity than males; in particular, females in our sample are skeletally mature in most elements beginning 48 months prior to the earliest incidence of skeletal maturity in males for the same bones. Females in our sample show a marked tendency toward skeletal maturity of all elements by 150 months of age, while males do not show the same tendency until approximately 200 months of age. In general within each sex, consecutive states of fusion show broad overlap in range of chronological age within each bone. Combining scores from several different bones enables a reasonable estimate of potential age in a test application of the model. Am J Phys Anthropol 118:385–392, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-NXH2D4DC-3
istex:554D4EB25BADEEE3154E9EF0449EC709AEEEF0F8
ArticleID:AJPA10109
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0002-9483
1096-8644
DOI:10.1002/ajpa.10109