Background

Premature ejaculation (PE) is a highly prevalent male sexual dysfunction. Its current definition, together with the most used diagnostic tools, does not include non-vaginal sexual intercourse such as anal sex, self-masturbation and/or partnered-masturbation, and other forms of sexual stimulation. However, diagnostic psychometry currently available is exclusively evaluating PE in the vaginal coitus.

Objectives

To validate a new tool, the Masturbatory Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (MPEDT), by assessing the control over ejaculation and its psychological effects during self-masturbation, rather than heterosexual vaginal intercourse.

Materials and methods

We studied 135 male patients aging from 18 to 40 years seeking medical care for PE in the Infertility and Sexual Medicine Department from June to September 2020. All the participants were asked to fill the PEDT and MPEDT questionnaires to estimate the PE symptoms during, respectively, intercourse and self-masturbation. The reliability/validity, the factor analysis of the tool, and the diagnostic sensitivity/specificity of MPEDT were calculated.

Results

The overall Cronbach alpha was 0.884. In our adjusted model, both RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) and SRMR (Standardized Root Mean Square Residual) were lower than 0.08, while Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI), Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI), and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) were higher than 0.9. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) is 0.943±0.015. The results suggest MPEDT points being ≤5 as “normal”, ≥7 as “PE during self-masturbation” and 6 as “suspected PE”, with the sensitivity of 91.9% and specificity of 88.1%.

Discussion

An efficient diagnostic psychometric tool is needed for the individuals who, based on the impaired control over ejaculation during self-masturbation, may also suffer from PE during partnered intercourse. MPEDT is able to evaluate the existence of PE symptoms not necessarily during heterosexual intercourse but rather during self-masturbation, possibly aiding to the diagnosis, as well as planning and follow-up of a prompt therapeutical strategy.

Conclusion

MPEDT could be considered a new, objective and reliable diagnostic tool for the evaluation of the existence of PE symptoms.

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