OBJECTIVES: Estimates show >20% of men are affected by premature ejaculation, yet very few seek health care and are diagnosed by a physician. This retrospective study of US medical claims data evaluates the health care resource utilization of diagnosed premature ejaculation (PE) patients compared to controls (C) . METHODS: Diagnosed PE patients (n=1419) and random controls (n=1372) from a 2003 Pharmetrics® Database were compared. PE patients and C were >17 years old. Number of physician encounters, concomitant medical diagnoses and drug therapies were evaluated. RESULTS: Mean age of PE patients was 40 (±11) years vs. 41 (±12) years in C. PE patients had 8 office visits in the diagnosis year vs. 3 visits in C. In 2003 total costs for a PE patient was $1,159 vs. $394 for C, including drug costs of $598 and $149 respectively. The differences between groups remained constant in the year following diagnosis. Prior to their PE diagnosis, patients had more and more frequent comorbidities reported than C. Major comorbidities reported were hypercholesterolemia (PE:14.2% vs. C:3.8%), hypertension (11.8% vs. 4.7%), respiratory problems (11.2% vs. 3.5%), prostate hyperplasia (5.4% vs. 0.8%), diabetes (3.9% vs. 0.7%), penis problems, and (10.3% vs 0.6%) urinary tract problems (5.4% vs. 0.5%) and sexual disorders (4.7% vs. 0%). Only 9% had an erectile dysfunction diagnosis prior to PE. After PE diagnosis, Zoloft (25.9%), Paxil/CR/paroxetine (20.4%) Viagra (10.8%), were the most prescribed drugs compared to 2.5%, 1.7% and 3.2% in C. CONCLUSION: Health care seeking PE patients consume more medical resources due to greater physician visits and drug consumption. Comorbidity findings may reflect reporting bias or indicate real etiological factors, both of which warrant further research.