Sex prediction potential of hyoid metric measurements in Iranian adults.

OBJECTIVES: Human hyoid is sexually dimorphic and is useful for sexing unknown skeletal remains. We aimed to find sex prediction potential of three linear dimensions of hyoid bones obtained from a series of cadavers with Persian ethnicity.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2015 at Forensic Pathology Organization of Tehran, Iran. We directly measured three linear dimensions of a series of hyoid samples obtained from cadavers during their neck autopsy in a convenience method. These dimensions were width, length and distance between lesser horns of hyoid. Height and weight of cadavers were also documented. Cadavers were of Persian ethnicity and at least 25-year-old. Data were analyzed by SPSS16. Logistic Regression Model was applied to find independent sex predictor(s) of hyoid. Statistically significant level was considered <0.05.

RESULTS: Hyoids of 349 adult cadavers (176 females and 173 males) with mean±SD age of 39.91±8.13years were investigated. Male cadavers had significantly higher BMI values (p-value<0.001). Mean±SD for width, length and distance between lesser horns of hyoids were 34.45±4.70, 34.61±4.67 and 22.71±2.80mm, respectively. All measured dimensions had greater mean values in males (all with p-values<0.001). After adjusting for BMI, length and distance between lesser horns of hyoid were independent predictors of sex with odd's ratio of 4.67 and 1.97, respectively. Combining these two measurements provided sex classification accuracy of 97.4%.

CONCLUSION: Special metric hyoid indicators can help in accurate sexing of skeletal remnants of adult Iranians. Further studies will find the strongest sex predictors of hyoid bones among Persians.