A Comparative Study of Yoga with Paroxetine for the Treatment of Premature Ejaculation: A Pilot Study

CONTEXT: Premature ejaculation (PME) is a common sexual disorder. Drugs used commonly used for its treatment have various side effects and disadvantages. Yoga is being increasingly studied in a variety of medical disorders with positive results. However, its evidence for patients with PME is very limited. AIMS: The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of yoga on ejaculation time in patients with PME and to compare it with paroxetine. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a nonrandomized nonblinded comparative study in a tertiary care center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among patients with PME, 40 selected paroxetine and 28 yoga. Intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT) was measured in seconds once before and three times after intervention. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Mean, standard deviation, paired and unpaired t-tests, and repeated measures ANOVA were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: IELT was significantly increased in both groups – paroxetine (from 29.85 ± 11.9 to 82.19 ± 32.9) and yoga (from 25.88 ± 16.1 to 88697 + 26.9). Although the effect of yoga was slightly delayed in onset, its effect size (η(2) = 0.87, P < 0.05) was more than paroxetine (η(2) = 0.73, P < 0.05). One-fifth of the patients in the paroxetine group (19.5%) and 8% in the yoga group continued to have the problem of PME at the end of the trial. CONCLUSIONS: Yoga caused improvement in both intravaginal ejaculation latency time and subjective sexual experience with minimal side effect. Therefore, yoga could be an easily accessible economical nonpharmacological treatment option for the patient with PME.