Table 2. Summary of the symptoms of four premature ejaculation (PE) syndromes used in the classification of males with complaints of ejaculating prematurely⁹.

Lifelong PE	Acquired PE	Natural variable PE	Premature-like ejaculatory dysfunction
In the majority of cases (80%) within 30–60 s or between 1 and 2 min (20%)	IELT is short (less than 2 min)	Ejaculation time may be short or normal	IELT is in the normal range or may even be of longer duration
From about the first sexual encounter	Early ejaculation occurs at some point in a man's life	Early ejaculations are inconsistent and occur irregularly	Subjective perception of consistent or inconsistent rapid ejaculation
With nearly every woman	The man had normal ejaculation experiences before	Ability to delay ejaculation may be diminished or lacking	Ability to delay ejaculation may be diminished or lacking
Ejaculation occurs too early nearly in each intercourse	The onset is either sudden or gradual	The impression of diminished control of ejaculation	Imagined early ejaculation or lack of control of ejaculation
Remains rapid throughout the lifetime of the subject (neurobiological/genetic cause)	The dysfunction may be the result of urological/thyroid dysfunctions or psychological/relationship problems	Psychotherapy should be considered as first-line treatment	The preoccupation is not better accounted for by another mental disorder

Abbreviation: IELT, intravaginal ejaculatory latency time.