Evaluation of Suchey-Brooks age estimation method using 3 dimensional pubic symphysis images in Turkish population

Abstract

Age estimation has a critical and difficult part in the biological profiling process for forensic anthropologists. Various morphological features in adult skeletal remains can be observed and be used by establishing certain standards for age estimation.Pubic shymphysis comes first among these skeletal elements. Today, the most widely used method for age estimation from pubic shymphysis is the Suchey-Brooks method.This method has been extensively tested on numerous osteological collections or virtual specimens, and it has often been stated that the age estimation method is influenced by population variations. For this reason, the reliability of the Suchey-Brooks method was tested on the pubic shymphysis models of modern Turkish population obtained from CT images. Three-dimensional reconstructions obtained from computed tomography images of 120 individuals (60 female, 60 male) belonging to the modern Turkish population were used in the study to estimate age using the Suchey-Brooks method. The results of the study show that the levels of both bias and inaccuracy increase with age for the Suchey-Brooks method, and the real age tends to be estimated smaller as the age gets older. As a result, the methods used to estimate the age of adult individuals should be tested in different populations to minimize the time and place differences between the sample in which the method was developed and the study it was applied to.