Leeftijdsonderzoek ter beoordeling van minderjarigheid bij asielzoekers

- Single underage asylum seekers are granted a residence permit faster and more easily than their grown-up counterparts. Since the large majority of those applying for such a permit do not have any identification papers, objective assessment is necessary but often absent. Skeletal maturation as seen on an X-ray of the hand or the medial clavicle gives some indication of age, but cannot determine precisely whether the applicant is below or above 18 years of age. Furthermore, few studies have looked at the accuracy and reproducibility of these radiographic investigations, so their interpretation is mainly based on expert opinion. Doubt about the usefulness of the assessment of the medial clavicle is the subject of the article by Van Rijn and Robben in this journal. This discussion deals with some aspects of their study including the description of the study population, the quality of the interobserver study and the theoretical arguments against the use of the method. More observational data should be collected. To date however, the use of the medial clavicular X-ray has not been shown to be invalid.