A new method of estimating age-at-death using patellar morphology

Abstract

Estimating the age-at-death of unidentified human skeletal remains is essential in medico-legal cases. Currently, the pubic symphyseal face and iliac auricular surface provide noteworthy indicators of adult ageing. However, as the pelvis may not always be available in some medico-legal cases, a need exists for substitute methods derived from other skeletal components. This study was conducted to derive a new method of estimating age-at-death using patellar morphology. The study sampled 104 paired patellae of known age-at-death and sex. Each patella was scored based on the severity of bone lipping at the base and the development of auricular marginal osteophytes. A composite scoring system was used to integrate the two scores and produce a representative score for each patella (0, 1, 2, 3). The relationship between patellar morphological changes and age-at-death was evaluated using a Spearman ranked correlation test (rho). Additionally, one-way ANOVA was used to assess age-at-death differences between composite scores. In both sex groups, age-at-death displayed a very strong, positive monotonic relationship with bone lipping (rho = 0.777 in males, rho = 0.752 in females) and auricular marginal osteophytes (rho = 0.622 in males, rho = 0.859 in females). In addition, patellar composite scores showed a stronger age-at-death correlation (rho = 0.888 in females, rho = 0.873 in males, p < 0.001 for each case) when compared to a level that was previously reported on the iliac auricular surface (rho = 0.624 in males, rho = 0.626 in females, p < 0.01 for each case). Statistically significant age-at-death differences were observed between all composite scores (p < 0.001), except between composite scores 2 and 3 (p = 0.967). The current study's findings led to the development of a new scoring method using composite scores based on patellar morphological changes that can support forensic anthropologists in estimating the age-at-death of unidentified human skeletal remains.