A Pilot Study of the Impacts of Menopause on the Anogenital Distance

OBJECTIVES It has been known that there is a difference in anogenital distance (AGD) in the animals and newborn depending on the exposure of androgenic hormones. The anatomical changes occur in the female genitalia in women after menopause. This was pilot study to find out whether the menopause affects AGD. METHODS We evaluated a total of 50 women targeted for premenopausal and postmenopausal group in each 25 people. AGD was defined as a length between the posterior commissure of labia and anal center. AGD was measured in lithotomy position using sterile paper ruler. In order to control bias of the height and weight, which could influence the AGD, anogenital index (AGI) is defined as the weight divided by the AGD value. We used a Mann-Whitney U test to analyze the relationship between AGD and menopause for statistical analysis. RESULTS AGD was significantly longer in premenopausal women compared to postmenopausal women (34.8 ± 6.4 vs. 30.3 ± 6.6, P = 0.019). AGI was significantly higher in premenopausal women than postmenopausal women (1.7 ± 0.4 vs. 1.3 ± 0.3, P ≤ 0.000). CONCLUSION The changes of AGD and AGI in postmenopausal women demonstrated to have potential to be used as on scale predicting the physical changes that may occur after menopause. This study could be used as the cornerstone of a large-scale studies in the future.