Correlation between Body Height, Percutaneous Foot and Forearm Lengths in Adult Egyptians

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams university, Cairo, Egypt.

2 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt.

3 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Egypt.

Abstract

Background: Many studies related the total body height to lengths of different body segments. To our knowledge, no correlation between lengths of foot and forearm, and the total body height is available. The aim of the present study is to correlate these three parameters and to derive regression formulae to estimate the living total body height from the percutaneous foot and forearm lengths. Material and Methods: 1000 Egyptian medical students shared in the study (500 males and 500 females) with age range (17-23 years). Total body height in the standing position, foot length, and forearm length were measured. All measurements were analyzed statistically, and a regression formula was created to calculate total body height by using foot and forearm lengths among the studied subjects according to their sex. Also, the intraclass correlation (ICC) was built up to correlate between the foot and forearm lengths among the studied subjects and by their sex. Results: It was found that there was a positive correlation between total body height and lengths of foot and forearm. The correlation was higher with foot length (r = +0.69) than forearm length (r = +0.67). The correlation was higher in females. Linear regression analysis and regression formulae were created for the association between total body height and foot and forearm lengths in both sexes. There was a significant agreement between the foot and forearm lengths with a higher intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) in females (0.70) than males (0.32).

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