Sex, Parity, and Scars: A Meta‐analytic Review. Issue 1 (24th February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McFadden, Clare; Oxenham, Marc F.
• Is Part Of: Journal of forensic sciences. Volume 63:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 201
• Page End: 206
• Publication Date: 2017-02-24
• Subjects: forensic science -- forensic anthropology -- parturition -- pregnancy -- sex estimation -- parity estimation; Medical jurisprudence -- Periodicals; Forensic sciences -- Periodicals; Forensic Medicine -- Periodicals; Gerechtelijke geneeskunde; Gerechtelijke chemie; Gerechtelijke psychiatrie; 363.2505
• DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13478
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1198

Abstract

Abstract: The ability to identify whether a female has been pregnant or has given birth has significant implications for forensic investigations and bioarcheological research. The meaning of "scars of parturition, " their causes, and their significance are a matter of contention, with a substantial literature of re‐evaluations and tests of the relationship between pelvic scarring and parity. The aim of this study was to use meta‐analytic techniques (the methodological approach) to test whether pelvic scarring, namely dorsal pubic pitting and the preauricular groove, is a predictor of parity and sex. Meta‐analyses indicated that neither dorsal pubic pitting nor the preauricular groove are predictors of parity status, while dorsal pubic pitting is a moderate predictor of sex. A weak relationship between dorsal pubic pitting and parity was identified, but this is believed to be a product of the moderate relationship with sex. This calls into question whether any causal relationship between parity and pelvic scarring exists.