DISCRIMINANT FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF PODIATRIC INDICES AS A METHOD OF SEX DETERMINATION IN CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS USING FOOT SCANNER

Introduction: Morphometry is biology's discipline that examines the quantitative measurement of the shape and size of parts of an organism or the organism as a whole. Footprint analysis can be employed in sex determination. A foot scanner is a quick, non-invasive, and more precise device than conventional manual or visual assessment of the foot. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the sex using footprint parameters obtained by foot scanner. Method: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study among two categories of students: 3 to 17 years and 18 to 29 years. Bilateral footprint images were obtained from 182 participants by foot scanner in JPG format. Podiatric indices, including seven dimensions (Foot length, Foot width, Arch index, Staheli index, Chippaux-Smirak index, Hernandez-Corvo index, and Clarke’s angle) were obtained from the footprint images using CorelDraw application software. Data collected were analysed using discriminant functional analysis to determine the percentage of correctly classified subjects into their sex groups. Results: Three podiatric indices (foot length, foot width, and Clarke’s angle) showed significant statistical differences between males and females (P < 0.001). Discriminant Functional Analysis allowed 66% of males and 71.2% of females (2–17 years) and 76.6% of males and 72.9% of females (18–29 years) to be correctly classified into their sex groups using foot length. Conclusion: These findings showed that the sex of an individual can be accurately predicted using foot measurements. This provides a fundamental point of reference for future research in anatomy, forensic science, and biometric applications.