Study designs of evaluations included in the review
No inclusion criteria for the study design were specified.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies of the PDE-5-Is sildenafil, tadalafil and vardenafil were eligible for inclusion. In the included studies, PDE-5-Is were used alone or in combination with a variety of other interventions, such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), topical lidocaine cream and EMLA (lidocaine-prilocaine) cream. The comparators included other PDE-5-Is, SSRIs and placebo. The duration of the studies ranged from 6 to 156 weeks.
Participants included in the review
The participants were men with PE. A multivariate definition of PE was used in about half of the included studies. Where reported, studies included men with lifelong PE or with either lifelong or acquired PE.
Outcomes assessed in the review
No inclusion criteria for the outcomes were specified. The majority of studies used intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT) as an outcome, together with quantitative patient-reported outcomes.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.