Female partner's perception of premature ejaculation and its impact on relationship breakups, relationship quality, and sexual satisfaction.
BACKGROUND
Women's perceptions of the men's ejaculatory behavior, as well as the impact premature ejaculation (PE) has on the couple's functioning, are important factors that need to be considered.


OBJECTIVE
This survey investigated women's perception and importance of ejaculatory function, as well as the specific aspects of PE that cause distress. In addition, the survey further identified the factors with a greater impact on intimacy, relationship, and sexual behavior.


METHODS
The 1,463 females belonging to a web panel from three different countries (Mexico, Italy, and South Korea), aged 20-50 years, participated in the survey. A combination of validated and self-constructed questionnaires to assess women's perception of PE, relationship satisfaction and quality, and sexual functioning and satisfaction were used.


METHODS
Descriptive statistics in form of proportions and percentages, correlation, and regression analyses.


RESULTS
A significant correlation between the importance of ejaculatory control and felt distress could be observed (rho = 0.55, P < 0.001). Women reporting less sexual problems considered ejaculatory control more important and reported more PE-related distress (rho = 0.23 and 0.11, respectively; P < 0.001 for both). The male's lack of attention and focus on performance was the most frequently reported reasons for sexual distress (47.6%) followed by "the short time between penetration and ejaculation" (39.9%), and "the lack of ejaculatory control" (24.1%). Almost a quarter of women reported that the man's ejaculatory problem had previously led to relationship breakups (22.8%). Women considering duration to be important were more likely to report breakups.


CONCLUSIONS
The study highlights the detrimental effects of PE on relationship and sexual satisfaction in the female partner and how it can lead to the termination of the relationship. Most notably, this is the first study to report that an important source of female distress are not only parameters related to performance such as control or duration but rather inappropriate attention focus and the negligence of other forms of sexual activities.
Institute of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Andrea
A
Burri
François
F
Giuliano
Chris
C
McMahon
Hartmut
H
Porst
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D061686:Premature Ejaculation / Q000523:psychology*; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*
Intimacy; Premature Ejaculation; Relationship Quality; Relationship and Sexual Behavior; Separation; Sexual Satisfaction; Women's Perception