FORENSIC AGE ESTIMATION IN THE LIVING BLACK POPULATION

The need for estimation of an individual’s age has become increasingly necessary in the fields of forensic sciences and with the technological advancement several studies have been done in the Western world and some Asian countries to estimate the age of individuals through radiological studies. However limited work has been carried out in the African setting with regard to age assessment in the living. The influence of race on the rate of skeletal maturation has been widely controversial among authors and experts alike but the need to understand the relationship between the two is essential. This is important when one intends to estimate the age of individuals using reference standards originating from a different population groups. Studies from Africa may give different values due to its geographical and socio-economic status. The estimation of age in South Africa and Kenya has only been restricted to a general morphometric and anatomical study of the clavicle while little has been done using more accurate radiological measurements. Accordingly this study aimed to provide a more accurate reference standards for the African population.