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

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Abstract

Purpose

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

Methods

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.

Results

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.

Conclusion

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.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Zhao Yi-Cheng Medical Science Foundation, China [Grant No. ZYYFY2018031].

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Study design: Yi Lu, Xiaoqiang Liu; Data collection: Yuxuan Song, Kang Liu, and Shujun Fan; Data analysis: Shangren Wang, Kang Liu, Kechong Zhou, and Yuxuan Song; Yi Lu wrote the article and all authors revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaoqiang Liu.

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Conflict of interests

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Research involving Human Participants and/or Animals

The study (No. 201801) was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital (TMUGH), on January 26, 2018. The study was conducted in compliance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, the principles of Good Clinical Practice and in accordance with all applicable regulatory requirements. This manuscript involves human participants.

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The informed consent was obtained from each participant.

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Lu, Y., Fan, S., Song, Y. et al. The association between anogenital distance and benign prostatic hyperplasia related lower urinary tract symptoms in Chinese aging men. World J Urol 39, 2645–2653 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-020-03511-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-020-03511-6

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