The association between anogenital distance and benign prostatic hyperplasia related lower urinary tract symptoms in Chinese aging men.

We conducted the study to investigate the relationship between anogenital distance (AGD) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) related lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

From May 2018 to January 2020, 220 subjects: 110 men with BPH-related LUTS (BPH-LUTS group) and 110 men without any urination complaints (control group) were selected. Clinical questionnaires, detailed physical examinations, including AGDas (distance between the anus and posterior base of the scrotum) and AGDap (distance between the anus and upper penis) measurements, and blood tests were all assessed.

The two groups were similar in terms of basic features (P > 0.05). The AGDap and AGDas in the control group were significantly shorter than the BPH-LUTS group (P < 0.001). Adjusted multivariate analyses showed that AGDas was significantly related to International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), post-voiding residual volume (PVR), total prostate volume (TPV) and maximum urine flow rate (Qmax) (P = 0.002, P = 0.009, P = 0.001, P = 0.028, respectively). However, the associations between AGDap and IPSS score, PVR, TPV, Qmax and total testosterone (TT) were all negligible (P > 0.05 for all). The associations between TT and BPH-LUTS related evaluations were also negligible (P > 0.05 for all). Furthermore, the study revealed that the AGDas cut-off values for mild, moderate, and severe symptom (based on IPSS score) in BPH-LUTS cases were 27.4 mm and 46.8 mm [area under curve (AUC): 0.802 and AUC: 0.779, respectively], respectively.

Longer AGDas was related to more severe BPH related symptoms. It may be useful to consider AGD as a marker for BPH-LUTS. Further well-designed studies are remained to be done to explore the intriguing problem.

World journal of urology. 2020 Nov 03 [Epub ahead of print]

Yi Lu, Shujun Fan, Yuxuan Song, Kang Liu, Kechong Zhou, Jiaqi Kang, Shangren Wang, Yongjiao Yang, Xiaoqiang Liu

Department of Urology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China., 7th Department, Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100144, China., Department of Urology, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300211, China., Department of Urology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China. .