ABSTRACT
Determination of sex from human skeletal remains plays an important role in establishing identity. Femur is an important bone used for gender determination. Objective: this study aimed to derive equations for sex prediction based on measurements of distal fragments of the femur for Egyptian population. Methodology: the study was done on 96 dry completely ossified femurs of both sexes; 51 male (21 right, 30 left), and 45 female (24 right, 21 left). Five dimensions of the distal femoral end were assessed by the help of Vernier caliper then statistically analyzed; epicondylar breadth, bicondylar breadth, medial condylar depth, lateral condylar depth, and the distance from intercondylar fossa to the medial condyle. Results: the male mean values were found to be greater than that of females, confirming the sexual dimorphism of these parameters. The most accurate univariate discriminant variable for each side was the epicondylar breadth. Although the two condylar depths had high accuracy rate in the right side, they were the least discriminant variables for sex determination in the left side. The best accuracy, 93.3%, 94.1% for right and left side respectively, was obtained from multiple discriminant analysis of the five studied dimensions. Conclusion: this research highlighted the importance of distal femur end in assessment of sex from human skeletal remains, especially in cases of incomplete femur bone.