CLIMACS (CLinical efficacy and systemic Improvements for MAnagement of premature ejaCulation Symptoms using a digital application)

Organizational Data

DRKS-ID:
DRKS00032774
Recruitment Status:
Recruiting ongoing
Date of registration in DRKS:
2023-09-29
Last update in DRKS:
2023-11-13
Registration type:
Prospective

Acronym/abbreviation of the study

CLIMACS

URL of the study

https://de.melonga.com/climacs-studie/

Brief summary in lay language

The aim of the study is to determine the benefit of a digital intervention - the Melonga medical app - for better management of the symptoms of premature ejaculation (PE). The study aims to investigate the effects of a digital app-based intervention on PE symptoms and quality of life of PE patients.

Brief summary in scientific language

This study aims to determine the usefulness of a digital intervention - the Melonga medical app - for better management of the symptoms of premature ejaculation (ICD-10: F52.4). PE is a highly stigmatized illness that affects up to 30% of all men. Despite the high level of suffering and sometimes severe psychological impairment, those affected rarely seek advice in a clinic or urological practice due to the social stigma. In the Premature Ejaculation Prevalence and Attitudes (PEPA) survey, only 9% of men with self-reported PE consulted a doctor. Doctors often feel uncomfortable discussing sexuality with their patients, usually due to embarrassment and a lack of training or expertise in treating EP. The primary therapies recommended today according to the EAU guidelines are drug treatment with the active ingredient dapoxetine or psychotherapy. Despite their proven effectiveness, both treatment options have disadvantages: With medication, the pill must be taken one to three hours before sexual intercourse. In addition, treatment with dapoxetine very often leads to side effects such as nausea, headaches and dizziness. Psychotherapeutic consultation is comparatively time-consuming and not always easy to integrate into the patient's everyday life. In addition, the availability of therapists varies greatly from region to region and is not universal. Given the limitations of current means of treatments, the aim of this study is to evaluate clinical effectiveness of Melonga, a new digital app-based intervention for alleviating symptoms of premature ejaculation. The Melonga app offers patients non-drug and self-directed treatment of praecox ejaculation symptoms in the privacy of their own home through cognitive behavioral therapy methods. The Melonga app is a medical product (Class I according to MDR). The study is the first to examine the clinical and social value of a digital app-based intervention for the management of PE. The expected benefits of the intervention examined in this study are: 1) Improvement in premature ejaculation symptoms in patients 2) Improve patients' quality of life 3) Improving patients' sexual intimacy and improving their relationship with their partner. 4) Improve awareness of their medical condition, access to care and participation

Health condition or problem studied

ICD10:
F52.4 - Premature ejaculation
Healthy volunteers:
Yes

Interventions, Observational Groups

Arm 1:
Group B will receive access to the Melonga app for 12 weeks at t=0.
Arm 2:
Group A serves as a control group for 12 weeks and then receives the app between weeks 13 and 24

Endpoints

Primary outcome:
Improvement (increase) in PEP score by at least 2 points compared to a control group
Secondary outcome:
1. General sexual function (measured with the IIEF-15 questionnaire) 2. Sexual quality of life (measured with the SQoL-M questionnaire) 3. Patient activation (measured by the PAM-13 questionnaire) 4. Improving access to medical care through digital tools (measured by the Acceptability E-scale) 5. Self-reported IELT (Intravaginal Ejaculation Latency) + two self-formulated questions on the patient reported outcome (PRO) 6. PHQ-4 questionnaire 7. PEDT questionnaire

Study Design

Purpose:
Treatment
Allocation:
Randomized controlled study
Control:
  • Control group receives no treatment
Phase:
N/A
Study type:
Interventional
Mechanism of allocation concealment:
Randomization is carried out centrally by the KKS Marburg. The chance of being assigned to Group A or Group B is 1:1
Blinding:
No
Assignment:
Crossover
Sequence generation:
Group B will receive access to the Melonga app for 12 weeks at t=0. Group A will serve as a control group for 12 weeks and then receive the app between week 13 and week 24. Both groups will be asked to complete questionnaires at the scheduled time points and follow-up 12 weeks after the end of the Melonga program.
Who is blinded:
No Entry

Recruitment

Recruitment Status:
Recruiting ongoing
Reason if recruiting stopped or withdrawn:
No Entry

Recruitment Locations

Recruitment countries:
  • Germany
Number of study centers:
Monocenter study
Recruitment location(s):
  • University medical center Klinik für Urologie der Universitätsklinik der Philipps-Universität Marburg Marburg

Recruitment period and number of participants

Planned study start date:
2023-09-29
Actual study start date:
2023-10-19
Planned study completion date:
2024-07-31
Actual Study Completion Date:
No Entry
Target Sample Size:
80
Final Sample Size:
No Entry

Inclusion Criteria

Sex:
Male
Minimum Age:
18 Years
Maximum Age:
no maximum age
Additional Inclusion Criteria:
1) PEDT score > 9 2) male, at least 18 years old 3) Sexually active with a partner at the time of recruitment (both temporary and permanent partners are acceptable) 4) Owns a smartphone and is familiar with iOS or Android smartphones. 5) Generally good health (both physical and mental), which will be documented in the anamnesis interview with the investigator. 6) Can speak and read German or English very well 7) Available for the duration of the study 8) Willingness to wait possibly 3 months before starting the intervention 9) Submission of a dated and signed informed consent form

Exclusion Criteria

1) Previous treatment with another preparation or intervention for EP within the last three months 2) Presence of sexual dysfunction other than EP (specifically erectile dysfunction with a current IIEF-5 < 22) . 3) Initiated treatment of sexual dysfunction other than EP in the last 4 weeks or intending to do so in the next 6 months. 4) History of symptoms of prostatitis or active inflammation in the urogenital area. 5) Psychiatric diseases requiring treatment with antidepressants from the SSRI group. 6) Physical function or mental impairment that prevents the participant from performing or understanding the required tasks of the study or completing the questionnaires. 7) Rejection of the study

Addresses

Primary Sponsor

Address:
Prognoix Health BV
Abhinav Jain
Oxfordlaan 55
6229 EV Maastricht
Netherlands
Telephone:
No Entry
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://prognoix.com/
Investigator Sponsored/Initiated Trial (IST/IIT):
No

Contact for Scientific Queries

Address:
Urologische Klinik der Universitätsklinik der Philipps-Universität Marburg
PD. Dr. med. Christer Groeben
Baldingerstrasse
35043 Marburg
Germany
Telephone:
+49064215862479
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://www.ukgm.de/ugm_2/deu/umr_uro/index.html

Contact for Public Queries

Address:
Urologische Klinik der Universitätsklinik der Philipps-Universität Marburg
PD. Dr. med. Christer Groeben
Baldingerstrasse
35043 Marburg
Germany
Telephone:
+49064215862479
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://www.ukgm.de/ugm_2/deu/umr_uro/index.html

Principal Investigator

Address:
Urologische Klinik der Universitätsklinik der Philipps-Universität Marburg
PD. Dr. med. Christer Groeben
Baldingerstrasse
35043 Marburg
Germany
Telephone:
+49064215862479
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://www.ukgm.de/ugm_2/deu/umr_uro/index.html

Sources of Monetary or Material Support

Commercial (pharmaceutical industry, medical engineering industry, etc.)

Address:
Prognoix Health BV
Oxfordlaan 55
6229 EV Maastricht
Netherlands
Telephone:
No Entry
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://prognoix.com/

Ethics Committee

Address Ethics Committee

Address:
Ethikkommission des Fachbereichs Medizin der Philipps-Universität Marburg
Baldingerstraße
35043 Marburg
Germany
Telephone:
+49-6421-5866487
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
http://www.uni-marburg.de/de/fb20/fachbereich/gremien/ethik

Vote of leading Ethics Committee

Vote of leading Ethics Committee
Date of ethics committee application:
2022-11-09
Ethics committee number:
164/22
Vote of the Ethics Committee:
Approved
Date of the vote:
2023-07-26

Further identification numbers

Other primary registry ID:
No Entry
EudraCT Number:
No Entry
UTN (Universal Trial Number):
No Entry
EUDAMED Number:
No Entry

IPD - Individual Participant Data

Do you plan to make participant-related data (IPD) available to other researchers in an anonymized form?:
No
IPD Sharing Plan:
No Entry

Study protocol and other study documents

Study protocols:
No Entry
Study abstract:
No Entry
Other study documents:
No Entry
Background literature:
No Entry
Related DRKS studies:
No Entry

Publication of study results

Planned publication:
Kongresspräsentation durch PD Dr. Groeben, 76. Kongress der Dt. Gesellschaft für Urologie Sept. 2024 in Leipzig
Publikationen/Studienergebnisse:
No Entry
Date of first publication of study results:
No Entry
DRKS entry published for the first time with results:
No Entry

Basic reporting

Basic Reporting / Results tables:
No Entry
Brief summary of results:
No Entry