Finger Print Pattern among Mentally Challenged Adolescent Population in Kerala

Dermatoglyphics is widely used in very many applications like medical sciences, forensic science, criminology etc and is a good tool for prognosis of several diseases, malnutrition, genetic syndromes, in-born errors in metabolism and mental retardation. Genetic diseases, mental retardation and other neurological disorders can be characterized dermatoglyphically at the earliest age as possible. Mentally retarded or challenged adolescent patients with different syndromes like Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, microcephaly and general mental retardation were selected randomly and different dermatoglyphic parameters were measured and compared to normal people in the present study. Finger print patterns from five fingers of both hands were assessed and compared with normal population and left-right asymmetry was also assessed for mentally retarded adolescents. A total of seven type finger print patterns were observed in all ten fingers together and left small, ring, index and thumb showed significant (P < 0.05) difference in finger print pattern. Similarly right thumb, middle and ring finger print pattern also showed significant (P < 0.05) difference between mentally retarded adolescents and normal population. The asymmetry between left and right finger pattern within mentally retarded adolescents showed that ring and middle finger pattern registered significant (P < 0.05) difference.