Value of the appearance of left hand wrist ossification centres to age estimation in Roma population

The continuous movement of people across borders has resulted in an increase in children who are unable to prove their age when challenged by authorities. The use of the left hand-wrist radiograph for age estimation, especially in younger children has been shown to be an effective method of assessing skeletal age. This study looks at a population of Roma children aged between 1 year and 9 years of age and examines the relationship between the appearance of the ossification centres of the hand-wrist and the age of the child with a view to understanding which of these ossification centres is most predictive of age. The radiographs of 388 children (214 boys, 174 girls) were examined and each ossification centre scored on their appearance in the radiograph. Discriminant function analysis was undertaken on the results to understand the relationship between the appearance of each ossification centre and chronological age. The results showed that there were a number of ossification centres which could be considered to be more predictive of age for both boys and girls including the ossification centres of the distal ulna, the scaphoid and the 5th distal phalanx.