A smartphone app designed to tackle the underlying psychological causes of premature ejaculation could help men last longer in bed, a study has found.
The at-home self-help tool could also benefit men who are hesitant to seek help because they are ashamed, the researchers from Germany and Italy said.
They said that users reported being able to hold off for twice as long until they ejaculated during sex – from 61 seconds to 125 seconds.
Men who did not use the app experienced an increase of 0.5 seconds on average.
After 12 weeks, one in five volunteers reported no longer having the condition, which the team described as "a common and stigmatising sexual dysfunction that causes significant distress".
"There was also a significant improvement in sexuality-related quality of life measures, like enjoyment and confidence, in men who used the app, compared with no change in the control group," the team said in a presentation at the European Association of Urology Annual Congress in London last weekend (Mac 13-16, 2026).
The research has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Users of the paid app can scroll through what the researchers described as "therapeutic techniques" such as "awareness exercises and cognitive behavioural therapy", as well as more "hands-on" methods to try to postpone the inevitable.
"Our study shows that this can support men to improve control of their ejaculation and achieve a satisfying sex life without losing spontaneity," said lead researcher Dr Christer Groeben of Marburg University and Heidelberg University, both in Germany.
The Climacs study inlcuded 80 men with no underlying health conditions who took part in a 12-week programme.
Each were given a series of health questionnaires about their experiences during sex and were asked to use a stopwatch to measure the length of time between penetration and ejaculation.
Some of them were assigned to a control group without access to either the app or any other treatment for premature ejaculation.
Around 66 patients submitted complete questionnaires at the end of the 12-week period.
Dr Groeben said: "The most commonly-available pharmacy therapies are designed only to treat the symptoms, not the cause, meaning many men discontinue them after a while.
"These men can remain under-treated and live with a considerable psychological burden that really starts to affect the quality of their relationships.
"Going to a doctor for help can feel like a big first step, and so an app like this can help to bridge that gap by normalising the condition as treatable."
Called Melonga, the app is available in Ireland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Belgium on a subscription basis, according to the conference abstract.
The app's 12-week programme is being offered for €169 (RM765.79).
Italy's University of Catania associate professor of urology Dr Giorgio Russo said: "There's much information and misinformation out there for men who find they have premature ejaculation, and so, this app is devised by urologists and psychologists as a new way to bring together the most effective advice into a single, easily accessible, and trusted, evidence-based resource.
"The research shows it can completely treat almost a quarter of patients, which is a huge development because these men were treated without pills.
"I think it would now be interesting to build on this research with a larger study and look at the impact of a digital approach on the satisfaction of partners, rather than just users." – PA Media and dpa
