Original Article
Background: Cheiloscopy has been proposed as a supplementary forensic identification tool; however, its reliability remains debated.
Objective: To evaluate lip pattern distribution, sexual dimorphism, and inter-rater reliability in a Kohat population.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 119 participants. Lip prints were collected using the lipstick-cellophane method and classified (Suzuki & Tsuchihashi). Chi-square test assessed gender association, and Cohen’s Kappa evaluated inter-rater reliability (95% CI).
Results: Type II pattern was most prevalent (48.66%), followed by Type IV (16.74%). A significant association between gender and upper lip patterns was observed (p < 0.05), with Type I more frequent in males and Type IV in females. No significant difference was found in lower lip (p > 0.05). Inter-rater reliability was low (κ = 0.096–0.180; 95% CI indicating slight agreement). Gender prediction accuracy ranged from 60.0% to 66.96%.
Conclusion: Although lip patterns show population-specific trends and limited sexual dimorphism, low reproducibility limits their standalone forensic utility. Cheiloscopy should be used as a corroborative tool.
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