The impact of premature ejaculation on the subjective perception of orgasmic intensity: validation and standardisation of the 'Orgasmometer'

Abstract

To the best of our knowledge, no psychometric tools have been specifically developed to measure if premature ejaculation (PE) is related to low sexual pleasure in terms of perception of orgasmic intensity. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate if men with PE suffer from a low perception of orgasmic intensity using a new tool, the 'Orgasmometer', to quantitatively measure the intensity of orgasmic pleasure. Among 329 subjects attending our andrological unit for suspected PE, 257 men fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, 156 (60.7%; 156/257) were affected by PE (PE group) and 101 (39.3%; 101/257) did not have any sexual dysfunction (Control group). Men were requested to fill out the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) and the Orgasmometer, a new visual tool recording orgasm intensity on a Likert scale. Interestingly, MANCOVA analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.044) in the subjective perception of orgasm intensity with the PE group scoring lower on the Orgasmometer (mean 5.8; 95% CI 5.191-6.409) than the Control group (mean 7.95; 95% CI 7.033-8.87). In addition, multiple linear regression revealed an inverse correlation between the PEDT and the Orgasmometer scores (p < 0.0001). Hence, higher PEDT scores were associated with a lower subjective perception of orgasmic intensity. The Orgasmometer was well understood, had good test-retest reliability and a high AUC in differentiating between men with high and low orgasmic pleasure intensity. The ROC curve analysis showed that a cut-off ≤6 had 87.7% sensitivity (95% CI 79.6-92.6), 95% specificity (95% CI 88.7-98.4), 95.3% positive predictive value (PPV) and 86.4% negative predictive value (NPV). Men affected by premature ejaculation perceived significantly lower orgasmic intensity than sexually healthy men. The Orgasmometer is an easy-to-perform, user-friendly tool for measuring orgasmic intensity.

Keywords: Orgasmometer; low sexual desire; orgasmic intensity; premature ejaculation; psychometric tools.