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Application and analysis of the Rissech acetabular adult aging method in a Colombian sample

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Abstract

The classical age indicators of the innominate have been the pubic symphysis and auricular surface. However, recently, the acetabulum has been highlighted as an indicator of adult age, with applicability in young, middle-aged, and older adults. The Rissech acetabular method was developed in a Portuguese population and tested in European and European-Americans, giving estimates within 10 years of age in more than 89% of the sample. The main goal of this paper is to test the Rissech acetabular method in a modern South American sample. The material used for the study was 184 women and 378 men from a Colombian-documented skeletal collection. The obtained morphological scores from the acetabulum were analyzed through the IDADE2 web page, a Bayesian statistical program that estimates a relative likelihood distribution for the target individuals, produces age estimates, and provides 95% confidence intervals. Results showed this method is useful in the modern Colombian population with an average absolute error of 10.63 years in females and 9.44 years in males. These errors are similar to those obtained in other European and North American samples when this method was performed and similar or lower than those obtained when the 3 classical aging methods (Suchey-Brooks, Buckberry-Chamberlain, and Lovejoy) were applied in the same collection (absolute error: 10.29 years ♀ and 9.05 years ♂ in Suchey-Brooks, 12.5 years ♀, and 12.17 years ♀ in Buckberry-Chamberlain, and 13.54 years ♀ and 10.99 years ♂ in Lovejoy). Although Rissech’s method was developed in a Western European sample, the results of this study indicate its applicability in modern Colombian samples with reasonable accuracy.

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Acknowledgments

We want to thank the Director of the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Bogotá (Colombia) for access to Human Bone Collection of Colombian Reference housed in this institution.

Funding

This study was partially funded by the project entitled Estándares ósesos y dentales de la población colombiana: identificación de cadaveres complejos en condición de no identificados y valoración de la edad en pacientes vivos examinados en el área clínica de Medicina Legal (Ref: 20141014) from the Universidad Antonio Nariño de Bogotá, Colombia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Básicas, Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina, Bogotá, Colombia

    Vanessa Muñoz-Silva

  2. Facultat de Medicina, Universidad Antonio Nariño, Bogotá, Colombia

    Cesar Sanabria-Medina

  3. Unidad de Búsqueda de Personas Desaparecidas (UBPD) de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

    Cesar Sanabria-Medina

  4. Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salud, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Carrer de Sant Llorenç, 21, 43201, Reus, Tarragona, Spain

    Carme Rissech

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  1. Vanessa Muñoz-Silva
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  2. Cesar Sanabria-Medina
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  3. Carme Rissech
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Contributions

The study was designed by the three co-authors. The data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the results were done by Vanessa Muñoz-Silva. The manuscript was written by corresponding author based on a previous version written by the three co-authors, who critically revised it for important intellectual content. All of them approved the version to be published and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

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Correspondence to Carme Rissech.

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Ethical approval

The use of skeletal specimens from documented skeletal collections for research upon anonymization is in accordance with local ethical standards and regulations at the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Bogotá (Colombia).

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Muñoz-Silva, V., Sanabria-Medina, C. & Rissech, C. Application and analysis of the Rissech acetabular adult aging method in a Colombian sample. Int J Legal Med 134, 2261–2273 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02422-w

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