TY - JOUR
T1 - Analysis of histomorphometric variables
T2 - Proposal and validation of osteon definitions
AU - Crowder, Christian
AU - Dominguez, Victoria M.
AU - Heinrich, Jarred
AU - Pinto, Deborrah
AU - Mavroudas, Sophia
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank the following people and institutions that were involved with aspects of this research: Dr. Bradley Adams and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner-New York City for the use of the forensic skeletal material, Dr. Susan Pfeiffer and the University of Toronto, the staff of the Natural History Museum in London, England, notably Louise Humphrey and Theya Molleson, for the use of the Spitalfields skeletal material. This manuscript represents a culmination of research that began in 2004 as a part of the dissertation research at the University of Toronto by Dr. Christian Crowder. The initial analysis of error was performed with the assistance of another student, Dr. Zoe Morris. Over the next seven years, the set of more descriptive and less subjective definitions was developed and tweaked to assist with the collection of histological variables. The variable definitions were initially presented in 2012 at the 81st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. The years following the 2012 meeting were the result of “life happening” and the publication of the definitions became delayed indefinitely, or so it seemed. So, for our final acknowledgment, the authors thank all the researchers who continued to contact us over the years requesting the definitions sheet, which was provided as a handout during the 2012 AAPA meetings. Your support and interest kept this project alive and is the reason the research was submitted for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Academy of Forensic Sciences
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Histological analysis of bone tissue has been used to explore a variety of questions relating to age-at-death, habitual behaviors, health, and nutritional stress. Identification of intact and fragmentary osteons is of key interest to many researchers in these studies, yet the definitions of these features vary between researchers making cross-study comparisons problematic. Furthermore, histological variable definitions are often ambiguous or require subjective classifications by the observer. As a result, and as indicated by previous studies, observer error and misclassification of certain variables, namely intact and fragmentary osteons, can be significant. This study proposes new definitions for intact and fragmentary osteons that are designed to limit observer subjectivity and also explore efficacy of combining osteon types into one variable. A sample of 30 6th rib cross-sections from a modern forensic population was used to test the validity of the proposed definitions. Observations of intact osteon population density (OPD(I)) and fragmentary osteon population density (OPD(F)) were made by three observers for each cross-section. These observations were used to explore the interobserver error associated with the proposed definitions and determine if combining variables into one variable (OPD) mitigates persisting classification difficulties. Results indicate that the proposed definitions significantly reduce interobserver error and misclassification of intact and fragmentary osteons. However, the interobserver error associated with fragmentary osteons is still high. Evaluation of the variables independently indicates that combining variables has potential to reduce the predictive strength of an age estimation model and the ability to interpret age-related bone remodeling.
AB - Histological analysis of bone tissue has been used to explore a variety of questions relating to age-at-death, habitual behaviors, health, and nutritional stress. Identification of intact and fragmentary osteons is of key interest to many researchers in these studies, yet the definitions of these features vary between researchers making cross-study comparisons problematic. Furthermore, histological variable definitions are often ambiguous or require subjective classifications by the observer. As a result, and as indicated by previous studies, observer error and misclassification of certain variables, namely intact and fragmentary osteons, can be significant. This study proposes new definitions for intact and fragmentary osteons that are designed to limit observer subjectivity and also explore efficacy of combining osteon types into one variable. A sample of 30 6th rib cross-sections from a modern forensic population was used to test the validity of the proposed definitions. Observations of intact osteon population density (OPD(I)) and fragmentary osteon population density (OPD(F)) were made by three observers for each cross-section. These observations were used to explore the interobserver error associated with the proposed definitions and determine if combining variables into one variable (OPD) mitigates persisting classification difficulties. Results indicate that the proposed definitions significantly reduce interobserver error and misclassification of intact and fragmentary osteons. However, the interobserver error associated with fragmentary osteons is still high. Evaluation of the variables independently indicates that combining variables has potential to reduce the predictive strength of an age estimation model and the ability to interpret age-related bone remodeling.
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U2 - 10.1111/1556-4029.14949
DO - 10.1111/1556-4029.14949
M3 - Article
C2 - 34821385
AN - SCOPUS:85120915245
SN - 0022-1198
VL - 67
SP - 80
EP - 91
JO - Journal of Forensic Sciences
JF - Journal of Forensic Sciences
IS - 1
ER -