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DXAGE 2.0 — adult age at death estimation using bone loss in the proximal femur and the second metacarpal

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Abstract

The accurate age at death assessment of unidentified adult skeletal individuals is a critical research task in forensic anthropology, being a key feature for the determination of biological profiles of individual skeletal remains. We have previously shown that the age-related decrease of bone mineral density (BMD) in the proximal femur could be used to assess age at death in women (Navega et al., J Forensic Sci 63:497–503, 2018). The present study aims to generate models for age estimation in both sexes through bone densitometry of the femur and radiogrammetry of the second metacarpal. The training sample comprised 224 adults (120 females, 104 males) from the “Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection,” and different models were generated through least squares regression and general regression neural networks (GRNN). The models were operationalized in a user-friendly online interface at https://osteomics.com/DXAGE2/. The mean absolute difference between the known and estimated age at death ranges from 9.39 to 13.18 years among women and from 10.33 to 15.76 among men with the least squares regression models. For the GRNN models, the mean absolute difference between documented and projected age ranges from 8.44 to 12.58 years in women and from 10.56 to 16.18 years in men. DXAGE 2.0 enables age estimation in incomplete and/or fragmentary skeletal remains, using alternative skeletal regions, with reliable results.

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available at http://osteomics.com/DXAGE2/. DXAGE 2.0 displays the most probable point estimate for age at death, as well as a credible interval for the estimation

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Funding

Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (SFRH/BD/122306/2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Francisco Curate

  2. Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Francisco Curate, David Navega, Eugénia Cunha & João d’Oliveira Coelho

  3. School of Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, Tomar Macao, Portugal

    Francisco Curate

  4. National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, I.P. (INMLCF, I.P.), South Branch, Lisbon, Portugal

    David Navega & Eugénia Cunha

  5. Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    João d’Oliveira Coelho

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  1. Francisco Curate
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  4. João d’Oliveira Coelho
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Curate, F., Navega, D., Cunha, E. et al. DXAGE 2.0 — adult age at death estimation using bone loss in the proximal femur and the second metacarpal. Int J Legal Med 136, 1483–1494 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-022-02840-y

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