Sex Differences and Aging of the Vertebral Column

• NCJ Number: 206368
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2004 Pages: 458-463
• Author(s): J. Josh Snodgrass M.A.
• Date Published: May 2004
• Length: 6 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Forensic Sciences Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: A version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Tempe, AZ, April 2003.

Annotation

This study examined sex differences in osteophyte development in the thoracic and lumbar regions of 384 individuals (192 males, 192 females) from the Terry Collection.

Abstract

Morphological changes in the adult human skeleton have proven useful for estimating age at death. In the vertebral column, the development of osteophytes has been found to be a general indicator of age, although substantial variation has been documented. The technique for estimating age from osteophyte development, however, is based exclusively on males, and it is not known whether patterns of osteophyte development are comparable between the sexes. The 384 individuals were randomly selected according to sex and age categories. All individuals were adult (20-80 years old). Persons with pathological changes to the vertebral column were excluded. Each vertebra in the thoracic and lumbar segments of the vertebral column was scored for osteophytosis according to criteria established by Stewart. In order to control for the effects of minor age differences in the male and female samples, age matching was used for a subsample of individuals (n=128, evenly divided between males and females). The study found that males and females showed remarkably similar patterns of age-related changes in osteophyte development; however, females showed greater variability in osteophyte stage for a given age. Occupation was known in only a limited number of individuals in the study, so the relationship of occupation and entophyte development was not examined; however, according to death certificate records available for this small number of people, most individuals of both sexes participated in occupations that can be considered manual-labor intensive. Future research should examine the interaction of multiple variables, including age, sex, ancestry, body size, and occupational and lifestyle factors in the development of osteophytes. These studies should focus on more modern collections. Also, future studies should clarify the mechanisms involved in the production of osteophytes. 3 figures and 18 references