The relationship between anthropometric measurements and the bony pelvis in African American and European American women

Introduction and hypothesis: The bony pelvis anatomy is highly variable. This study aims to examine the relationship between anthropometric measurements and the size of the adult female bony pelvis.

Methods: Three-dimensional points of all pertinent landmarks of 96 adult female bony pelvises were obtained and the true conjugate, interspinous distance, intertuberous distance, and pelvic inlet and outlet areas were calculated. The relationship between these measurements and height and multiple anthropometric measurements were evaluated using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r).

Results: Multiple anthropometric measurements were significantly correlated with the true conjugate and pelvic inlet and outlet areas, but not with the interspinous or intertuberous widths. Height had a greater correlation with pelvic areas than any other anthropometric measure considered, even after controlling for race. There were no significant differences in pelvic areas between races.

Conclusions: Height and other anthropometric measurements were significantly correlated with the true conjugate and pelvic inlet and outlet areas.