Child brides: the age estimation problem in young girls.
Year: 2020
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The aim of this work is to study a sample of girls from 15 different countries using Third Molar Maturity Index (I3M ), to assess the probability that a girl has reached the legal age of 18 years. The studied sample consisted of 3228 Orthopantomograms of healthy female subjects from 15 different countries. The cut-off value of I3M = 0.08 was tested to discriminate adults (≥18 years) and minors (<18 years). X-ray images were processed by computer-aided drafting program ImageJ. The information on sensitivity and specificity of I3M coming from the 15 countries was pooled together using a bivariate Bayesian modeling approach. Specificity of the I3M test did not change when the country was considered, and its value remains greater than 85% for each studied country. This method is useful to estimate the age of the girls involved in suspected early marriage because of the high probability of correctly identifying a minor with similar results observed among tested populations.
Source: Europe PMC (PubMed Central)
Authors: R Cameriere, L A Velandia Palacio, M Marchetti, F Baralla, M Cingolani, L Ferrante
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology (arts and humanities)
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3123144722