Premature Ejaculation: An Observational Study of Men and Their Partners.

Premature ejaculation (PE) is the most common male sexual dysfunction affecting men and their partners. Lack of community-based data describing this condition limits understanding of PE and its outcomes.To characterize PE in a large population of men with and without PE using patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures elicited from men and their partners.4-week, multicenter, observational study of males (≥18 years) and their female partners in monogamous relationships (≥6 months). Screening, baseline, and follow-up visits scheduled at 2-week intervals. Clinicians diagnosed PE utilizing DSM-IV-TR criteria. Intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT), measured by a stopwatch held by the partner, was recorded for each sexual intercourse experience. Subject and partner independently assessed PROs:control over ejaculationandsatisfaction with sexual intercourse(0 = very poor to 4 = very good),personal distressandinterpersonal difficulty(0 = not at all to 4 = extremely), andseverity of PE(0 = none to 3 = severe).Of the total study population (N = 1,587), 207 subjects were diagnosed with PE and 1,380 were assigned to the non-PE group. Median IELT (min) was 1.8 (range, 0–41) for PE and 7.3 (range, 0–53) for non-PE subjects (P < 0.0001). More PE vs. non-PE subjects gave ratings of“very poor” or“poor” forcontrol over ejaculation(72% vs. 5%;P < 0.0001) andsatisfaction with sexual intercourse(31% vs. 1%;P < 0.0001). More subjects in the PE vs. non-PE group gave ratings of“quite a bit” or“extremely” forpersonal distress(64% vs. 4%;P < 0.0001) andinterpersonal difficulty(31% vs. 1%;P < 0.0001). Subject and partner assessments showed similar patterns and correlated moderately (0.36–0.57).PE subjects reported significantly shorter IELT. Overlap in IELT distributions was observed between the PE and non-PE groups, indicating the need for additional PRO measures to characterize PE. Shorter IELT was significantly associated with reduced ejaculatory control and sexual satisfaction and increased distress and interpersonal difficulty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]