Geometric analysis of the greater sciatic notch for sex determination in a thai population

Abstract

Objective: The sex determination was made from the greater sciatic notch of the hip bone by a geometric morphometric method in a Thai population. The present study aimed to make models of male and female greater sciatic notches for consultants in the future. Materials and Methods: The sample was composed of 200 adult os coxae (100 males and 100 females) with known sex and age at death. The ages at death of the samples were between 28 and 99 years (average age, 64.37), selected from the Forensic Osteology Research Center (FORC), Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University. The sample was complete bone. The method was geometric morphometric which used a 2D photograph for analyzing the shapes of male and female greater sciatic notch by a tps. program. Two models of the greater sciatic notch were tested to determine the sex from ten blind cases and an intra-inter observer agreement test. Results: With the shape of each greater sciatic notch, the sex was correctly determined in 70% of the samples by a geometric morphometric method; being more accurately determined in male samples (80%) than in female samples (60%). The shape of the female greater sciatic notch was wider and more symmetrical compared with males which was narrow, deep, and asymmetrical. Intra-inter observer agreement was obtained with a high correlation. Conclusion: The sex determination of the greater sciatic notch by geometric morphometric method can analyze for the sex in a Thai population at moderate accuracy, so this method trends to continue in future studies to develop a program for moderately accurate sex determination.