Radiologic Determination of Ischiopubic Index in Ijaw Ethnic Group of Nigeria

Hip bone is an ideal bone for sex determination because it not only reflects the general differences between the two sexes but also the special adaptation of female hip bone for childbearing. The accurate determination of sex and race are important tools to forensic scientist and physical anthropologist. This retrospective study was conducted in order to determine pubic length, ischial length and ischiopubic index in adult male and female Ijaws of Nigeria. Standardanterio-posterior (AP) pelvic radiographs of 200 normal adults comprising of 90 females and 110 males age ranged 18-65yrs. were employed in this study. The pubic lengths and ischial lengths were measured and the ischio-pubic index was calculated. From the parameters taken, the mean pubic length of adult ijaw male was 90.20mm, mean ischial length was 106.00mm, and ischio pubic index of adult ijaw male was 81.82, while the mean pubic length of an adult ijawfemale was100.00mm, mean ischial length was 121.00mm, and ischio pubic index 94.00. The result showed the mean pubic length, mean ischial length were significantly higher in females than males (P<0.05). The result also showed higher ischiopubic index in females compared to males. The result of this study confirmed previous reports that irrespective of race, the ischio-pubic index for females is significantly greater than that of males. Ischio-pubic index greater than 90 will most probably be that of a female and less than 90 will most probably be for males. The demarking points of these parameters were worked out to determine sex, this assigned 55.29 % to adult Ijaw males and 87.71% to adult Ijaw females. This study has therefore provided necessary data for obstetricians, physical anthropologists and forensic scientist.

Key Words: Radiographs, Ischial length, Pubic length, Ischiopubic index, Sexual dimorphism