Abstract
Background: Sex determination of unknown skeletal material is one of the most vital determinations made by forensic anthropologists. The pelvis is probably the most accurate bone from which sex is determined. In that context, the subpubic angle showed correct gender identification in over 98% of cases. The subpubic angle was wider in females than in males. Moreover, it has been ascertained that significant differences exist between populations in subpubic angle measurements. Also, it was found that the subpubic angle is affected by ethnicity. So, the aim of this work was to quantify the subpubic angle in Saudi males and females to establish national parameters and also to determine whether any statistically significant differences exist between males and females and other population groups.
Material and method: The subpubic angle was measured in the antero-posterior radiographs of 33 adult Saudis male and female. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 for statistical analysis.
Result: The subpubic angle for males ranged from 69 degrees to 117 degrees with a mean +/- SD [91.10 +/- 13.88] and for females from 114 degrees to 155 degrees with a mean +/- SD [132.29 +/- 13.44]. The angles were significantly wider in female than males [P<0.05]. Furthermore, the results for both sexes were statistically significant in comparison to previous established results for other population groups.
Conclusion: The subpubic angle of Saudi population can be considered as an obtuse angle in females but overlaps between acute and obtuse in males. It also shows regional variations and hence, reinforces the need for population specific parameters which are useful to obstetricians, anthropologists and forensic specialties.