Evidence for a genetic etiology to ejaculatory dysfunction

Abstract

A number of theoretical approaches to understanding the etiology of ejaculatory dysfunction have been proposed, but no study has yet found conclusive evidence that premature (PE) or delayed (DE) ejaculation is under genetic control. We conducted twin model fitting analyses on different indicator variables of ejaculatory function on a population-based sample of 3946 twins and their siblings (age 18-48; mean=29.9 years) to investigate genetic, shared environmental and unique environmental effects on PE and DE. A significant moderate genetic effect (28%) was found for PE. No clear-cut familial effect could be detected for DE. Significant associations between ejaculatory function and age were detected, but effects of age were generally very weak. The findings from the present study provide useful information regarding the etiology and understanding of ejaculatory dysfunction.