RESUMO
Background: Sex, age, race and stature are evaluated to determine the identity in forensic investigations. Themost important stages in identity determination are stature and sex estimations which are easily done withprimary anatomic structures in intact corpses. determination of sex from skeletal or dismembered body remainsis one of the most critical aspects of forensic analysis which is crucial to medico-legal investigations.Aim: This study is aimed at testing the validity of sex classification using anthropometric foot dimensions anddiscriminant function test in an adult Nigerian population.Methods: 222 subjects (115 males and 107 females) of Nigerian parentage, aged 18–65 years who volunteeredand satisfied the inclusion criteria were involved. Following institutional approval, anthropometric measurementsof Foot Length (FL), Foot width (FW), Bimalleolar width (BB), Navicular height (NH), Medial malleolar height(MMH), Lateral malleolar height (LMH), Heel Width (HB) were measured. The data was analyzed for descriptiveand inferential statistics using the SPSS statistical package version 25 and Microsoft excel 2016.Results: Independent t test exhibited statistically significant sex differences (P < 0.05) for all the parameters,with the males having consistently higher values than the females. Linear discriminant functions were createdfor predicting sex.Conclusion: The prediction models established from this study will be useful in disaster victim identificationfrom mutilated or dismembered human remains to aid medico-legal practice in Nigeria. The normative datadeveloped from this study will be referenced and be used as baseline data for comparing the variations of footstructure of this population and that of other populations.