Radiological Assessment of Bone Age in Schoolchildren Using Hand and Wrist Radiographs in Anambra State

Bone age assessment using hand and wrist radiographs is a standard method in paediatric medicine for evaluating growth disorders, precocious or delayed puberty, and estimating chronological age in medicolegal contexts. Reference standards such as the Greulich and Pyle atlas were developed using North American children and may not accurately reflect skeletal maturation patterns in Nigerian children. This study aims to compare bone age with chronological age in schoolchildren from Anambra State, South East Nigeria, using the Greulich-Pyle method applied to hand and wrist radiographs. Participants aged 6 to 16 years attending schools in Awka and Onitsha will be enrolled, with radiographs obtained during routine clinical visits. Bone age and chronological age discrepancies will be quantified, and the influence of nutritional status and socioeconomic factors will be explored. The study anticipates identifying systematic differences between bone age standards developed for non-Nigerian children and skeletal maturation patterns observed in Anambra schoolchildren, providing a basis for the future development of Nigeria-specific skeletal maturation reference data.

Keywords: bone age, skeletal maturation, Greulich-Pyle, paediatric radiology, Anambra State