Investigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants

Abstract Hands and digits tend to be sexually dimorphic and may reflect prenatal androgen exposure. In the past years, the literature introduced several hand and digit measures, but there is a lack of studies in prepubertal cohorts. The available literature reports more heterogeneous findings in pre...

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Autores principales:	Luisa Ernsten, Lisa M. Körner, Martin Heil, Gareth Richards, Nora K. Schaal
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a347069761e547249e31846fa23c5eb6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a347069761e547249e31846fa23c5eb62021-12-02T14:42:00ZInvestigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants10.1038/s41598-021-89590-w2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/a347069761e547249e31846fa23c5eb62021-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89590-whttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Hands and digits tend to be sexually dimorphic and may reflect prenatal androgen exposure. In the past years, the literature introduced several hand and digit measures, but there is a lack of studies in prepubertal cohorts. The available literature reports more heterogeneous findings in prepubertal compared to postpubertal cohorts. The comparability of the available studies is further limited by the study design and different measurement techniques. The present study compared the reliability and sex differences of available hand and digit measures, namely digit lengths of 2D, 3D, 4D, 5D, digit ratios 2D:4D, 2D:5D, 3D:4D, 3D:5D, 4D:5D, relative digit lengths rel2, rel3, rel4, rel5, directional asymmetry of right and left 2D:4D (Dr-l), hand width, length, and index of 399 male and 364 female 6-month-old German infants within one study using only indirect and computer-assisted measurements. The inter-examiner reliability was excellent while the test-retest reliability of hand scans was only moderate to high. Boys exhibited longer digits as well as wider and longer hands than girls, but smaller digit ratios, with ratios comprising the fifth digit revealing the largest effect sizes. Other hand and digit ratios revealed sex differences to some extent. The findings promote the assumption of sexual dimorphic hand and digit measures. However, by comparing the results of the available literature, there remains an uncertainty regarding the underlying hypothesis. Specifically in prepubertal cohorts, i.e. before the influence of fluctuating hormones, significant effects should be expected. It seems like other factors than the influence of prenatal androgens contribute to the sexual dimorphism in hand and digit lengths.Luisa ErnstenLisa M. KörnerMartin HeilGareth RichardsNora K. SchaalNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Luisa Ernsten Lisa M. Körner Martin Heil Gareth Richards Nora K. Schaal Investigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants
description	Abstract Hands and digits tend to be sexually dimorphic and may reflect prenatal androgen exposure. In the past years, the literature introduced several hand and digit measures, but there is a lack of studies in prepubertal cohorts. The available literature reports more heterogeneous findings in prepubertal compared to postpubertal cohorts. The comparability of the available studies is further limited by the study design and different measurement techniques. The present study compared the reliability and sex differences of available hand and digit measures, namely digit lengths of 2D, 3D, 4D, 5D, digit ratios 2D:4D, 2D:5D, 3D:4D, 3D:5D, 4D:5D, relative digit lengths rel2, rel3, rel4, rel5, directional asymmetry of right and left 2D:4D (Dr-l), hand width, length, and index of 399 male and 364 female 6-month-old German infants within one study using only indirect and computer-assisted measurements. The inter-examiner reliability was excellent while the test-retest reliability of hand scans was only moderate to high. Boys exhibited longer digits as well as wider and longer hands than girls, but smaller digit ratios, with ratios comprising the fifth digit revealing the largest effect sizes. Other hand and digit ratios revealed sex differences to some extent. The findings promote the assumption of sexual dimorphic hand and digit measures. However, by comparing the results of the available literature, there remains an uncertainty regarding the underlying hypothesis. Specifically in prepubertal cohorts, i.e. before the influence of fluctuating hormones, significant effects should be expected. It seems like other factors than the influence of prenatal androgens contribute to the sexual dimorphism in hand and digit lengths.
format	article
author	Luisa Ernsten Lisa M. Körner Martin Heil Gareth Richards Nora K. Schaal
author_facet	Luisa Ernsten Lisa M. Körner Martin Heil Gareth Richards Nora K. Schaal
author_sort	Luisa Ernsten
title	Investigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants
title_short	Investigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants
title_full	Investigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants
title_fullStr	Investigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants
title_full_unstemmed	Investigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants
title_sort	investigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/a347069761e547249e31846fa23c5eb6
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Investigating the reliability and sex differences of digit lengths, ratios, and hand measures in infants

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