Women too suffer from 'premature orgasms'

The survey from the Hospital Magalhaes Lemos in Portugal, which included 510 women, found 40 per cent said that they suffered from the sexual dysfunction while 3 per cent described the problem as chronic, a major newspaper reported.

Traditionally premature ejaculation is a medical phenomenon associated with men but researchers wanted to discover if women are also affected.

A questionnaire was sent out to a cross-section of females aged between 18 and 45, which addressed the frequency of premature orgasm, if they ever felt a loss of control over the timing of the orgasm, and if the issue caused distress.

The results revealed that 40 per cent had experienced an orgasm earlier than desired at some point.

"For this group, female premature orgasm is more than bothersome.

We think it's as serious a distress as it is in men," Lead researcher Serafim Carvalho told a science magazine.

Carvalho and his team hope the findings will encourage further research on female sexual dysfunction, which has received little medical attention.

The study was published in the journal Sexologies.