X-ray osteometry of some line parameters of the middle phalanges of the hand in children and adolescents in term of different age and ethnicity

The aim of the study is a comparative analysis of the linear parameters of the length and width of the diaphysis of the middle phalanges in children and adolescents of Tajikistan and Western India, and also the possibility of using these linear parameters to establish the age of children of the compared ethnic groups. On 325 radiographs of the right hand in male children and adolescents of the Kanibadam region of the Republic of Tajikistan and the city of Mumbai (Western India) at the age of 6-17 years, the length of the middle phalanges and the width of their diaphysis were determined. To determine the relationship between the age of children of the compared ethnic groups and the linear parameters of the length and width of the shaft of the phalanges, Spearman's nonparametric correlation coefficient was used. Comparative assessment of the values of indicators by age was carried out by the method of parametric and non-parametric analysis. In boys of Tajikistan, the closest correlation was established between the age of children and the length of the middle phalanx of the third finger, while in their Indian peers this ratio was determined evenly for the II-IV fingers of the hand. The width of the diaphysis of the phalanges of the fourth finger increased most significantly with age in boys of Tajikistan, and in the Indians, the width of the third finger, the smallest increase in the width of the diaphysis in the compared groups was determined for the phalanges of the second finger. The linear parameters of the middle phalanges of the hand can be used to identify the age of children and adolescents in Tajikistan and Western India at the age of 6-17 years. For Tajik children, the best predictor of age is the linear parameter of the length of the middle phalanx of the index, and for their Indian peers, the length of the middle phalanx of the II-IV fingers is equally.