Accuracy of Anthropometric Scaling: Using Stature to Estimate Body Segment Lengths 2020-01-0523
In the fields of forensic accident reconstruction and biomechanical engineering, it is often necessary to estimate the length of a specific body segment for an individual, about whom little is known besides overall stature. Since body proportions and body segment lengths vary throughout the population, there will be some error in these estimations. The current study provides estimates for the accuracy of human body segment length predictions based on stature.
In this study, four different methods for predicting body segment lengths based on stature were evaluated. Using publicly available adult and child anthropometric datasets, a leave-one-out cross validation analysis was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of each of the four methods in predicting body segment lengths. The results of the leave-one-out analysis showed that different prediction methods produced the best estimates for different body segment length measurements. When using the best method for each body segment, body segment lengths for an individual on average can be predicted within 2.5% of the actual measurement.
The 50th percentile best estimates for each body segment length studied are provided for males and females, over a range of child and adult statures. The data presented in this study can be used to provide estimates of error rates of human body segment length predictions.
Citation: Campbell, J. and Petroskey, K., "Accuracy of Anthropometric Scaling: Using Stature to Estimate Body Segment Lengths," SAE Technical Paper 2020-01-0523, 2020, https://doi.org/10.4271/2020-01-0523. Download Citation
