Cargando…

Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study

INTRODUCTION: Smartphone-delivered healthcare interventions allow patients to access services on demand when needed, improving motivation and compliance. However, the use of mobile health apps has been scarcely explored in sexual medicine. AIM: To evaluate the effects of integrating psychological tr...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Optale, Gabriele, Burigat, Stefano, Chittaro, Luca, Riva, Giuseppe
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7471091/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32565067
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2020.05.003
_version_ 1783578710440411136
author Optale, Gabriele
Burigat, Stefano
Chittaro, Luca
Riva, Giuseppe
author_facet Optale, Gabriele
Burigat, Stefano
Chittaro, Luca
Riva, Giuseppe
author_sort Optale, Gabriele
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Smartphone-delivered healthcare interventions allow patients to access services on demand when needed, improving motivation and compliance. However, the use of mobile health apps has been scarcely explored in sexual medicine. AIM: To evaluate the effects of integrating psychological treatment for premature ejaculation (PE) with a mobile coaching app that offers therapeutic exercises on the patient’s smartphone. METHODS: This study comprised 35 heterosexual men with primary psychogenic PE (mean age 34 years, standard deviation = 9.15). All patients entered a cycle of 15 sessions of psychodynamic psychotherapy integrating behavioral therapy, each lasting about 45 minutes. The patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups, each of which performed daily homework exercises (physiotherapy exercises for reinforcing the pelvic floor muscles and cognitive exercises for distancing from sexual failure.) The first group (15 patients) received verbal and printed instructions only (treatment as usual—TAU), whereas the second group (17 patients) experienced the exercises with guidance from the mobile app (app). In both groups, the exercises started after the seventh session. Patients were advised to perform the exercises 3 times a day for 3 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measures were the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool and the Premature Ejaculation Profile. RESULTS: Analysis of the data revealed significant pre-post improvements in Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool and Premature Ejaculation Profile scores for the app group compared with those of the TAU group (P < .01). The frequency of patients with no-PE condition for the app group after treatment was significantly higher than the frequency of patients with no-PE condition for the TAU group (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Results suggest that a mobile coaching app performs better than TAU in improving both the behavioral skills of ejaculatory delay and sexual self-confidence within a psychological treatment for PE. Future studies should collect follow-up data and explore the potential of mobile coaching apps in combined pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy interventions. Optale G, Burigat S, Chittaro L. et al. Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study. J Sex Med 2020;8:461–471.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7471091
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher Elsevier
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-74710912020-09-09 Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study Optale, Gabriele Burigat, Stefano Chittaro, Luca Riva, Giuseppe Sex Med Ejaculatory Disorder INTRODUCTION: Smartphone-delivered healthcare interventions allow patients to access services on demand when needed, improving motivation and compliance. However, the use of mobile health apps has been scarcely explored in sexual medicine. AIM: To evaluate the effects of integrating psychological treatment for premature ejaculation (PE) with a mobile coaching app that offers therapeutic exercises on the patient’s smartphone. METHODS: This study comprised 35 heterosexual men with primary psychogenic PE (mean age 34 years, standard deviation = 9.15). All patients entered a cycle of 15 sessions of psychodynamic psychotherapy integrating behavioral therapy, each lasting about 45 minutes. The patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups, each of which performed daily homework exercises (physiotherapy exercises for reinforcing the pelvic floor muscles and cognitive exercises for distancing from sexual failure.) The first group (15 patients) received verbal and printed instructions only (treatment as usual—TAU), whereas the second group (17 patients) experienced the exercises with guidance from the mobile app (app). In both groups, the exercises started after the seventh session. Patients were advised to perform the exercises 3 times a day for 3 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measures were the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool and the Premature Ejaculation Profile. RESULTS: Analysis of the data revealed significant pre-post improvements in Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool and Premature Ejaculation Profile scores for the app group compared with those of the TAU group (P < .01). The frequency of patients with no-PE condition for the app group after treatment was significantly higher than the frequency of patients with no-PE condition for the TAU group (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Results suggest that a mobile coaching app performs better than TAU in improving both the behavioral skills of ejaculatory delay and sexual self-confidence within a psychological treatment for PE. Future studies should collect follow-up data and explore the potential of mobile coaching apps in combined pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy interventions. Optale G, Burigat S, Chittaro L. et al. Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study. J Sex Med 2020;8:461–471. Elsevier 2020-06-18 /pmc/articles/PMC7471091/ /pubmed/32565067 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2020.05.003 Text en © 2020 The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Ejaculatory Disorder
Optale, Gabriele
Burigat, Stefano
Chittaro, Luca
Riva, Giuseppe
Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study
title Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study
title_full Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study
title_fullStr Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study
title_short Smartphone-Based Therapeutic Exercises for Men Affected by Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study
title_sort smartphone-based therapeutic exercises for men affected by premature ejaculation: a pilot study
topic Ejaculatory Disorder
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7471091/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32565067
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2020.05.003
work_keys_str_mv AT optalegabriele smartphonebasedtherapeuticexercisesformenaffectedbyprematureejaculationapilotstudy
AT burigatstefano smartphonebasedtherapeuticexercisesformenaffectedbyprematureejaculationapilotstudy
AT chittaroluca smartphonebasedtherapeuticexercisesformenaffectedbyprematureejaculationapilotstudy
AT rivagiuseppe smartphonebasedtherapeuticexercisesformenaffectedbyprematureejaculationapilotstudy