Premature Ejaculation Self-Test: 5 Questions Based on the PEDT

If you’re here at 1 a.m. wondering “do I have premature ejaculation?”, you’re in big company. In a survey of more than 12,000 men in the US, Germany and Italy, 22.7% said they had a problem with finishing too fast, yet only about 9% had ever talked to a doctor about it. The test above is a private first step: five questions, a score out of 20, and a clear next move for each result.

What does this premature ejaculation test measure?

It measures the same five things doctors look at: control, how often it happens, how little it takes, how much it bothers you, and how much it affects your partner. The questions are our own wording, inspired by the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT).

The PEDT was published by Symonds and colleagues in European Urology in 2007. The team started from interviews and focus groups with men, then tested the questionnaire on three groups: 292 men diagnosed with PE by a clinician, 309 men who said they had PE, and 701 who said they didn’t. What came out was a short, five-item scale covering:

• Control: how hard it is to delay ejaculation when you want to.
• Frequency: how often you finish before you want to.
• Minimal stimulation: whether it happens with very little touching or movement.
• Distress: how frustrated you feel about it.
• Interpersonal difficulty: how much it worries you about your partner’s satisfaction.

Each answer is worth 0 to 4 points, so the total runs from 0 to 20. Notice what’s missing: a stopwatch. That’s on purpose. Researchers built the PEDT because time alone doesn’t capture what PE actually is. Worth knowing too: the study was run by researchers working for Pfizer, and the tool was designed for clinical trials.

How do I read my score?

8 or less means PE is unlikely, 9 or 10 means possible, and 11 or more means likely. Those cut-offs come straight from the original PEDT validation, where they best separated men with and without a clinical diagnosis.

Your answers are added up in your browser. Nothing is stored, logged or sent anywhere, including to us.

Is this test a diagnosis?

No. It’s a screening tool: it tells you how closely your experience matches the pattern of PE, not what’s causing it. Only a clinician can make a diagnosis, because they can check things a questionnaire can’t see.

Three honest limits:

1. It can’t see causes. European urology guidelines list erection problems, prostate inflammation, an overactive thyroid, poor sleep and anxiety among the causes of acquired PE. A score doesn’t separate them.
2. It reflects how you feel right now. A new partner, a long dry spell or a stressful month can push your score up temporarily.
3. It was validated on heterosexual intercourse. The ISSM definition also only covers vaginal sex, so results are less certain for other kinds of sex.

Is 2 minutes premature?

Not on its own. Time is only one of three criteria, and the official thresholds are about 1 minute (ISSM) or about 2 minutes (US guidelines), nearly every time, together with poor control and distress.

The details:

• ISSM (2014): lifelong PE means ejaculation that always or nearly always happens within about 1 minute of penetration since your first sexual experiences. Acquired PE is a clear, bothersome drop, often to about 3 minutes or less. Both also need an inability to delay and negative consequences like distress or avoiding intimacy.
• AUA/SMSNA (2020): the American Urological Association uses about 2 minutes for lifelong PE, again with poor control and bother. It’s an expert-opinion threshold, wider than the ISSM’s.

So a guy who lasts 2 minutes, feels in control and isn’t bothered doesn’t have PE. A guy who lasts 3 minutes but used to last 10, and now dreads sex, might have acquired PE. That’s exactly why the test asks about control and distress, not just time.

How long does the average man actually last?

About 5.4 minutes. In a stopwatch study of 500 couples across five countries, partners timed intercourse for four weeks and found a median of 5.4 minutes, from under a minute to 44 minutes. Younger men (18 to 30) had a median of 6.5 minutes. Condoms and circumcision made no significant difference.

Two more numbers help put your result in perspective:

• In a US stopwatch study, men diagnosed with PE had a median of 1.8 minutes, other men 7.3, but the two groups overlapped a lot. Some men without PE were fast; some men with PE were not that fast.
• In a Turkish survey of 2,593 men summarized by the ISSM, 20% complained of PE, but only 2.3% fit lifelong PE and 3.9% acquired PE. Most of the rest had “variable” PE (sometimes fast, which is normal) or “subjective” PE (feeling fast with a normal time).

Translation: lots of men feel too fast, and far fewer have PE in the medical sense. If you want the full breakdown by age, see how long a man should last in bed.

What should I do with a low score (0 to 8)?

Probably nothing medical. You likely finish fast sometimes because of arousal, nerves or a long gap since you last came, which is normal variation, and practice helps with all of it.

Good starting points: figure out which cause is yours, learn to notice your arousal level before the point of no return, and slow your breathing during sex. If nerves are the main thing, our guide to performance anxiety in bed is more useful than anything about timing.

What should I do with a score of 9 or 10?

Treat it as a gray zone worth working on. You may have mild or situational PE, and behavioral training is a reasonable first step.

The stop-start and squeeze techniques are the classic place to start. In a systematic review of 10 randomized trials, two trials found behavioral therapy beat a waiting list by several minutes, though overall study quality was uncertain. Retake the test in a few weeks. If your score climbs or it starts weighing on your relationship, see a doctor.

What should I do with a score of 11 or more?

Talk to a doctor. A score this high matches the pattern of PE, and a clinician can confirm it, check for erection problems, prostate or thyroid issues, and discuss options.

Treatments work for many men. US guidelines list daily SSRIs, clomipramine, on-demand dapoxetine (where available) and topical numbing agents as first-line options, and say that combining behavioral therapy with medication works better than either alone. Note that no drug is FDA-approved specifically for PE, so US prescriptions are off-label. Our treatment comparison lays out pros and cons, and this guide covers what to say at the appointment.

When to see a doctor, whatever your score

• It started suddenly after years of lasting fine.
• You also have trouble getting or keeping an erection. Erection problems can be an early sign of heart or blood-vessel disease, so get checked.
• You have pain when you ejaculate, blood in your semen, or pain when you pee.
• You have other symptoms like a racing heart, weight loss or shakiness (possible thyroid issue).
• It’s causing real distress, you avoid sex, or it’s straining your relationship.

Where does Duro fit in?

Duro is a training app, not a treatment and not a medical device. Duro starts with a free 3-minute check-in (no account, no email), then gives you a 5-minute daily session built around your weak spot: guided Kegels over five levels, breathing (including “brake” techniques), stop-start drills and short strength work. It can sit alongside whatever your doctor suggests.

One honest catch: Duro is in French for now. The English version isn’t out yet, so if you don’t read French, the free guides on this site are the better starting point today.

Can I retake the test?

Yes, and you should. Retaking it every few weeks while you practice is a simple way to see whether control and distress are moving. A falling score is a good sign; a stuck or rising one is a reason to get a professional opinion. Since nothing is saved, jot your score down somewhere private if you want to compare. And remember that about 1 in 5 men report this issue: whatever your number, it’s a common, workable problem, not a verdict on you.