Fingerprint Ridge Count Difference of Adjacent Digits Reflects the Level of Masculinity in Hausa Population of Nigeria

Fingerprint ridge counts, which remain constant from the second trimester of pregnancy, are related to fingertip growth during early gestation. Once they are formed, the ridges do not transform anymore throughout the lifetime except in certain circumstances such as injury. Masculinity is one of the indices known to be associated with some chronic diseases. In other word, sexually dimorphic characters including masculinity play a vital role in personal identification. Despite all this, there is paucity of biological predictors of masculinity especially among Hausa population of Nigeria. The aim of the study was to evaluate the role of differences in fingerprint ridge count (dFRC) of adjacent digits in the determination of level of masculinity in Hausa population of Nigeria. This was a cross sectional study conducted on 300 adult Nigerians with mean age of 21.03±2.49 years (18–33 years). The percentage muscle mass (%mm) as a measure of masculinity was measured using bioelectric impedance machine. Direct sensing protocol was used to capture fingerprint for the determination of dFRC in radioulnar direction starting with thumb through little digit dFRC15. A significant difference was observed in dFRC12, dFRC13, dFRC15, dFRC24 and dFRC45 in both right and left sides. Increase in dFRC12, dFRC13, dFRC15, dFRC45 reflects increase in %mm in both hands whereas, reciprocal relationship was observed between dFRC24 and %mm. For the dFRC34 the significant difference was observed only in the right hand. In both hands, the dFRC12 was best predictor of the level of masculinity. In conclusion, dFRC exhibits potential as an index for the determination of level masculinity in Hausa population of Nigeria. Hence, the role of dFRC in health, disease and identification will be a promising tool for further exploration.Relationship of percentage muscle mass with adjacent digits fingerprint ridge counts in Hausa population of NigeriaMuscle MassPearson Correlation Sig. (2‐ tailed) NdFRC 1300Rd12 .299 **1.35E‐07 300Rd13 .226 **8.08E‐05 300Rd14 .119 *0.038594 300Rd15 .282 **7.17E‐07 300Rd23 −0.10477 0.069983 300Rd24 −.202 **0.000417 300Rd25 −0.06044 0.296767 300Rd34 −0.11208 0.05246 300Rd35 0.051534 0.373759 300Rd45 .158 **0.006222 300Ld12 .266 **2.91E‐06 300Ld13 .145 *0.011673 300Ld14 0.06131 0.289838 300Ld15 .235 **3.92E‐05 300Ld23 −.134 *0.019792 300Ld24 −.215 **0.00018 300Ld25 −0.04011 0.488886 300Ld34 −0.08713 0.132139 300Ld35 0.106957 0.064294 300Ld45 .195 **0.00068 300Comparison of adjacent digits fingerprint ridge count based on percentage muscle mass in Hausa Population of NigeriadFRC Class I Class II T P Value 95% CI MDMean SD Mean SD Lower UpperRd12 −1.29 0.87 −0.71 1.20 −4.78 2.81E‐06 −0.81 −0.34Rd13 −1.57 0.75 −1.11 1.09 −4.31 2.18E‐05 −0.68 −0.25Rd14 −1.52 0.82 −1.35 1.07 −1.55 1.22E‐01 −0.39 0.05Rd15 −1.89 0.80 −1.41 1.01 −4.54 8.25E‐06 −0.68 −0.27Rd23 −0.28 0.92 −0.39 1.09 0.94 3.47E‐01 −0.12 0.34Rd24 −0.23 0.98 −0.64 1.05 3.46 6.15E‐04 0.18 0.64Rd25 −0.60 0.96 −0.70 0.99 0.89 3.76E‐01 −0.12 0.32Rd34 0.05 0.90 −0.25 0.93 2.81 5.34E‐03 0.09 0.50Rd35 −0.31 0.80 −0.30 1.01 −0.09 9.24E‐01 −0.22 0.20Rd45 −0.36 0.94 −0.06 0.95 −2.81 5.28E‐03 −0.52 −0.09Ld12 −1.21 1.00 −0.65 1.09 −4.64 5.16E‐06 −0.80 −0.32Ld13 −1.53 0.80 −1.18 1.10 −3.16 1.76E‐03 −0.57 −0.13Ld14 −1.46 0.83 −1.30 1.02 −1.46 1.46E‐01 −0.37 0.05Ld15 −1.89 0.92 −1.37 1.10 −4.43 1.30E‐05 −0.75 −0.29Ld23 −0.32 0.90 −0.53 1.23 1.68 9.35E‐02 −0.04 0.46Ld24 −0.24 0.93 −0.65 1.17 3.31 1.05E‐03 0.16 0.64Ld25 −0.67 0.96 −0.71 1.10 0.33 7.38E‐01 −0.20 0.28Ld34 0.07 0.76 −0.12 1.13 1.73 8.43E‐02 −0.03 0.41Ld35 −0.36 0.79 −0.19 1.13 −1.51 1.32E‐01 −0.39 0.05Ld45 −0.43 0.84 −0.07 1.05 −3.30 1.07E‐03 −0.58 −0.15