Effect of anogenital distance on stress urinary incontinence

Background To clarify the effect of anogenital distance (AGD) on stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in female patients. Methods Charts of patients who admitted to urogynecology polyclinic between December 2020 and February 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. The AGD parameters including anogenital distance from the anus to the clitoris (AGDAC), anogenital distance from the anus to the fourchette (AGDAF) and genital hiatus (GH) were measured. To identify effect of ADG parameters on SUI, patients were divided into the two subgroups (patients with SUI and without SUI). Demographic characteristics of patients and perineal anatomy measurement were compared between groups. Results Totally, 256 female patients met study inclusion criteria. In comparison of patients with and without SUI, demonstrated that age, weight, height, and BMI were similar between groups (p = 0.200, p = 0.455, p = 0.131, and p = 0.215, respectively). The AGDAF was measured 22.6 mm in patients with SUI and 25.5 mm in patients without SUI (p = 0.014). In contrast, AGDAC was significantly longer in patients with SUI (81.1 mm vs. 72.2 mm, p = 0.001). Also, GH was significantly longer in patients with SUI (p = 0.016). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that one mm increment in AGDAC and GH, is associated with 1.108- and 1.038-fold time of SUI development risk, respectively (p = 0.001 and p = 0.004). In contrast, decrease in AGDAF is resulted with significantly higher risk for SUI (p = 0.001). Conclusion The present study demonstrated that shorter AGDAF, and longer AGDAC and GH were resulted with significantly higher incidence of SUI. Considering the ease and non-invasiveness of anogenital distance measurement, an important implication of the results of current study is that it is a measurement that can be easily performed during routine gynecological and obstetric examinations as a suitable tool for use in the prediction of women who will develop stress incontinence in the future.