ABSTRACT
Objective To study the relationship between the adult sternum multiple measurements and the body length in Chinese Han population for the purpose of body length estimation. Methods In this article, we had surveyed 135 samples(100 males and 35 females) .The total length of the sternum, the length of the sternal manubrium and the sternal body, the maximum and minimum breadth of the sternal manubrium, the Kleinste Breite des Ma-nubrium sterni, the maximum breadth of the sternal body, the Dicke des Manubrium sterni, the thickness of the sternal manubrium,the maximum thickness of the sternal manubrium and the sternal body in Chinese Han population was measured. Multiple linear regressions for estimating the body length were obtained by the stepwise regressive mathematics. Results Five multiple linear regressions (4 for different male age groups and 1 for female group ) for body length estimation were obtained. The multiple- relationship coefficient(R) was between 0.6237 and 0.7350, and the standard deviation was between 4.5720 and 7.0348. Conclusion The body length could be estimated by the sternum measurement data.However, its accurate was not as well as estimation by the long bone measurement. The male sternum multiple measurement data was significantly different from female. The body length can not be estimated only by the length of the sternal manubrium .