Abstract

Introduction:
The clavicle varies between the sexes, being more curved, thicker, less smooth and longer in males than in females. The purpose of this study is to predict the sex of an individual from the clavicle dimensions in the West Niger Igbo population of Nigeria.
Materials and Methods:
This retrospective study involved subjects, 25 to 69 years old, who visited the Radiology Department of Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, for plain chest X-ray, from January to December, 2017. A total of 140 posterior-anterior chest X-ray films, 58 males and 82 females, were used. The Linear horizontal length (LHL), Sternal end diameter (SED), Acromial end diameter (AED) and Mid-length diameter (MLD) were measured. Students t-test was used to assess the mean gender difference and the mean side difference, while the Pearsons correlation was used to ascertain the relationship between right and left parameters. The level of statistical significance was pegged at p-value <0.05. There are significantly higher mean values in LHL, SED, AED and MLD on both sides in both genders.
Results:
There is significant, strong positive correlation of all parameters on both sides. The accuracy of sex estimation was 80.7% (LHL), 63.6% (SED), 65.7% (AED), 67.9% (MLD), 80.7% (combined parameters) on the right and 74.3% (LHL), 70.7% (SED), 56.4% (AED), 62.1% (MLD) and 80.7% (combined parameters).
Conclusion:
The results have shown that sex can be estimated from the dimensions of the clavicle and therefore, will be useful to the forensic anthropologists in human identification.