Seventeen male outpatients with premature ejaculation were randomly assigned to treatment with paroxetine (N = 8) or placebo (N = 9). After a first week dose of 20 mg/day, the paroxetine regimen was increased to 40 mg/day for 5 weeks. Patients and their female partners were interviewed separately. Patients treated with paroxetine had significantly greater clinical improvement than the patients given placebo.