Discriminating between Genders using Hand Images of Iraqi Adults

Hand shape measurements are useful for ergonomics and designing equipment for handicapped individuals. Hand dimensions have been found to provide great accuracy in identifying gender when compared to indices. This study aims to compute a hand index for Iraqi adults that identifies gender. The right hand length and breadth of 50 Iraqi adults (25 males and 25 females) were measured and results showed significant gender hand index differences. Furthermore, Iraqi males have a long large palm with short fingers whilst Iraqi females have a narrow smaller palm with very long fingers. This study may be useful in forensic investigation and the ergonomic design of hand tools.