Screening for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) should be routine in men with premature ejaculation (PE) – and vice versa – according to a pair of Korean researchers.
CP/CPPS is the most common form of prostatitis, inflammation of the prostate gland. Past studies have found that many men with CP/CPPS also have premature ejaculation – climaxing before he and his partner wish it to happen.
However, more than half of the previous research focused on men younger than 40 years. A man’s risk for CP/CPPS increases as he gets older. With this in mind, researchers from the National Police Hospital and Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, both in Seoul, aimed to examine the relationship in an older group.
The researchers analyzed data from 8,261 men over 40 with a mean age of 50.4 years. The participants were police officers undergoing a urological health checkup as part of a job application process.
The men completed relevant questionnaires, including the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT), the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), and the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptoms Index (NIH-CPSI).
They were also evaluated for metabolic syndrome and testosterone deficiency.
Based on their NIH-CPSI scores, almost a quarter of the men had prostatitis-like symptoms and 7% had moderate to severe symptoms. Analysis of PEDT scores showed that 13% of the men were “possibly demonstrating” PE and about 24% were, in fact, demonstrating PE.
The researchers found a significant positive correlation with the men’s NIH-CPSI pain domain scores and PEDT scores, even after adjusting for age, testosterone levels, metabolic syndrome status, and IIEF scores. They also found that the more severe a man’s pelvic pain, the higher his risk for PE.
Why did this correlation occur? It’s possible that increased inflammation associated with CP/CPPS might change men’s sensations before ejaculation, the researchers suggested. Performance anxiety associated with CP/CPPS-related pain during ejaculation could be another explanation.
“Based on our data, we suggest routine screening for CP/CPPS in men with PE and PE in men with CP/CPPS,” the authors wrote.
The study was first published online last month in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Resources
The Journal of Sexual Medicine
Lee, Jun Ho, MD, PhD and Sung Won Lee, MD, PhD
“Relationship between Premature Ejaculation and Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome”
(Full-text. First published online: December 5, 2014)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsm.12796/full