The Use of Hand Length Measurement in Estimation of Height Among Ibibio Tribe in Akwa Ibom State

Since stature is being considered as one of the important parameters for personal identification, it is therefore necessary to reconstruct the other body parts for the prediction of human height, to be used in the case of dismembered body, mutilated body or in disease affected body. The aim of this study is to investigate the association of hand length with height in human subjects; and to see if height could be predicted using hand length measurement among the Ibibio people. 300 subjects (150 males and 150 females) of Ibibio people of Akwa Ibom State – also known as the Ibibio proper or the Eastern Ibibio, within the age range of 18-30 years were used for this study. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The relationships between height and hand length were determined using Simple Correlation Coefficient with 95% confidence interval. P-value less than 0.05 were considered significant. Regression equations were drawn using linear regression statistics. The results showed mean value of height in males to be 169.78cm while the mean value of male left and right hand were 156.85mm and 156.68mm respectively. The mean value of height in females was 165.07cm and the mean values for the female left and right hands were 154.55mm and 154.44mm respectively. The results showed a highly positive significant correlation between Height and Hand length of both left and right hands (P<0.01). This study has established the use of hand length to accurately predict height of the Ibibio people.

Key Words: Hand Length Measurement, Height Estimation, Ibibio tribe, Akwa-Ibom