| dc.description.abstract | Introduction: The present study was planned to determine the utility of distal tibial dimensions in estimation of the length of the
tibia in a Kenyan population.
Materials and methods: A total of 156 tibiae were obtained for the present study from the Department of Human Anatomy,
University of Nairobi and the osteology collection of the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi. Measurements were taken
directly from the bone using a digital pair of vernier calipers (Sealey Professional ToolsTM). Morphometric data were analyzed
and measurements were expressed in means ± standard deviation. For those dimensions that showed a linear association with the
length of the tibia, Pearson’s correlation test was carried out. Linear regression to derive equations for estimation of the length of
the tibia was carried out.
Results: The height of the fibular incisura, breadth of the medial malleolus and the length and width of the tibial plafond
displayed moderate linear association with the length of the tibia. The linear regression models generated for length estimation
yielded low coefficients of determination.
Conclusion: Though, it is possible to estimate the length of the tibia from its distal dimensions, caution should be observed when
using these dimensions because the estimates from the equations incorporating them have low accuracy. | en_US |
