Fingerprint Dermatoglyphics and Objectively Measured Physical Ability: No Evidence of a Practically Useful Association in a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Fingerprint dermatoglyphics serve as a heritable marker of physical ability for talent identification, yet fingerprint loci are linked to limb development, so associations may reflect body morphology. Following a registered protocol (PROSPERO CRD420261469333), we searched five databases and pooled Fisher-transformed correlations between fingerprint indices and objectively measured physical ability with a correlated-and-hierarchical-effects model. Of 20 eligible studies, nine cross-sectional studies contributed 122 correlations from 337 participants, all at high risk of bias. The pooled correlation was r = 0.047 (95% CI −0.036 to 0.130); other models fitted to all nine studies gave 0.02 to 0.07, no interval for the overall effect excluded zero, and none approached the prespecified r = 0.30 benchmark. Only the total ridge count interval excluded zero (r = 0.08). In a sensitivity analysis, adding one borderline report with an ineligible outcome raised the estimate to 0.23 (95% CI −0.11 to 0.53). No study adjusted for anthropometry, maturation, or training. Where measured, anthropometry correlated more strongly with performance than fingerprints did (mean |r| 0.45 vs. 0.17), and adjustment for anthropometry decreased 20 and increased 17 of 37 fingerprint correlations. Certainty was very low. The current evidence does not support using fingerprints to orient or select young athletes.