Coping with Premature Ejaculation: An Online Survey in a RepresentativeSample of the German Male Population Aged 18 to 64 Years

Background: This study estimated combined prevalence of Lifelong and Acquired PE in German adult men and assessed potential risk factors and coping methods for PE. Methods: In October 2012 this online survey of a representative sample of the German male population aged 18-64 years (n=2,459) used an active pre-existing and independent online panal. Results: Prevalence of PE as a ‘sexual dysfunction’ according to the modified ISSM definition of was 3.3% (n=81), whereas the prevalence of PE as a ‘sexual complaint’ (i.e., men who estimated their time to ejaculation was occasionally very short, suffered to some extent from PE and had a lack of ejaculation control) was 14.5% (n=356). Men attributed PE predominantly to particularly high sexual arousal (75%) or a long time since the last sexual intercourse (53%), but less than one third of all men with PE (30%) considered PE a ‘disease’. Potential selfreported risk factors showed significant differences (P<0.05) for overweight (21% vs 30%), depression (9% vs 14%) and erectile dysfunction (3% vs 15%) between men without and with PE. Conclusions: All men perceived PE as a ‘sexual difficulty’ and suffered from a very short time to ejaculation and/or the inability to control that time.