Fingerprint Pattern Similarity: a Zygosity Test Classifier in a Thai Twin Study

Abstract

This study aims to establish zygosity determination which is essential in twin studies by using a simple, economical, and rapid method that relies on dermatoglyphic data. Fingerprints (FP) were collected from 138 twin pairs residing in northeastern and central Thailand. The FP patterns were identified and the FP pattern similarity score was measured, after which these scores were utilized to plot the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve and to generate the area under the ROC curve (AUC). Results showed that the mean scores of FP pattern similarity for monozygotic (MZ) twins are statistically greater than for dizygotic (DZ) twins. The AUC of both hands with a cut-off point equal to or greater than 5.5 provided excellent accuracy and the highest sensitivity and specificity to differentiate between MZ and DZ twins. The present study explores the usefulness of the FP pattern similarity of both hands to identify the zygosity among Thai twins.