Mehtap Erdogan; Keziban Karacan & Süniye Bilgic

Summary

The hand is a critical organ for both personal and professional activities such as grasping, holding, touching and fine motor activities in daily life. In addition, with its complex structure consisting of twenty-seven bones and fifteen joints, it allows us to perform movements that require fine motor coordination. In the literature, there are studies showing that hand morphology varies according to factors such as race, sex and dominant hand. These studies constitute important data in forensic anthropology and even in the design of ergonomic tools. With the developing technology, more studies are needed in this field In our study, we aim to contribute to the literature by comparing the hand morphometry of the Turkish population in terms of parameters such as sex, ethnicity and hand preference. The results of our study will be an important source of data for future morphological hand comparison studies. A total of 152 volunteer young university students, 128 of whom were Turkish and 24 of whom were from different ethnic backgrounds, participated in our study. Both hand parameters of the participants were measured and compared according to variables such as sex, ethnicity and dominant hand. Orfield hand preference test and 2D:4D ratio evaluations were also included. Although the results obtained were consistent with the literature, it was found that the right hand length was significantly higher in groups other than Turkish participants. In addition, it was found that the right hand width, height and fifth finger length were larger in Turkish girls compared to other races. The 2D:4D ratio did not yield significant results in any group. Our study provides new data for the literature and strengthens our understanding of hand morphology according to sex, especially in Turkish society. KEY WORDS: Hand; Hand Preference; Hand Morphometry; Orfield; Finger Ratios.

How to cite this article

ERDOGAN,E.;KARACAN,K.&BILGIC,S. Correlation of hand preference with hand anthropometric measurements in university students. Int. J. Morphol., 43(2):554-563, 2025.