Age Assessment in the Living

Lucina Hackman

Rationale

• Medical:

Pinpoint timing of medical interventions

Understand disease progression

Assess efficacy of medical interventions

• Legal:

Assess age of perpetrator/victim

Assess age of asylum seekers

• UNICEF estimates that around 50 million children are not registered at birth-no record of age.

• In the UK in 2007-3,525 unaccompanied children tried to enter the country- 54% resulted in age disputes

• Child trafficking (UK) is a growing issue-76% of children trafficked fall into the 14-17 age group (2009)

Asylum

Current Practices

• Use of :

1. Psychological assessment

2. External physical assessment (secondary sexual characteristics)

3. Radiographs compare skeletal maturation (ossification centres and epiphyseal fusion times) with chronological maturation (Atlases)

Ossification centres

• Matches maturation of various parts of the skeleton with chronological age

• Appearance of ossification centres

• Changes in shape of ossification centres

• Fusion of ossification centres

• Use of growth-changes in size of skeletal elements

Challenges

• Are the atlases still relevant today?

1. Nutrition-secular changes

2. Population differences

• Is any atlas more accurate than another (in relation to each other or in relation to a modern population)

• If there is an error-where does it lie and in what direction

Current Project

• Access radiographs in Ninewells Hospital (numbers around 600 images for each joint area)-this is currently being undertaken

• Access equivalent dataset in New Delhi, India-August 2009

• Compare results 1. Between Atlases2. Between populations

Data Collection

• Examine each area of joint

• Compare how closely each area corresponds to the image shown for that age in the atlas

• Record the discrepancy

• Subject to statistical analysis

Any Questions?