Towards a Universal Definition of Premature Ejaculation

Abstract

Although the scientific production regarding premature ejaculation (PE) has sharply increased in relatively recent years, 1 Colonnello E Ciocca G Limoncin E et al. Redefining a sexual medicine paradigm: subclinical premature ejaculation as a new taxonomic entity. Nat Rev Urol. 2021; 18: 115-127 Crossref PubMed Scopus (20) Google Scholar there is still a vibrant debate gravitating around its current definitions. 2 Althof SE McMahon CG Rowland DL. Advances and missteps in diagnosing premature ejaculation: analysis and future directions. J Sex Med. 2022; 19: 64-73 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar Overall, definitions have widely changed across the years, having been continuously depleted of, or enriched with, various criteria. for example, the number of coital thrusts was not considered in the most recent definitions, while the partner's distress, although not always mentioned explicitly, was somewhat included. 3 Sansone A Aversa A Corona G et al. Management of premature ejaculation: a clinical guideline from the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine (SIAMS). J Endocrinol Invest. 2021; 44: 1103-1118 Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar Such “unfinished business”, using the words stolen from a seminal paper recently published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, 4 Rowland DL Althof SE McMahon CG. The unfinished business of defining premature ejaculation: the need for targeted research. Sex Med Rev. 2022; 10: 323-340 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar of defining PE reveals that there is still a high demand for truly standardized, unanimously accepted, and operationalized criteria.