Factors Affecting the Reported Importance of Health-Related Issues in Transgender Persons Pubblico

Pharris, Kevin Roy (2013)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/fx719n051?locale=it
Published

Abstract

Background: The term "transgender" refers to a group of persons who express a need to move across the culturally defined binary categories of gender. The dissatisfaction with one's sexual identity at birth often implores individuals to seek physical changes, including medical gender reassignment. Hormonal and surgical reassignment therapies are common in the transgender community; however long-term health-related outcomes of this type of treatment are unknown. Research that is available to-date has not been conducted with sufficient involvement of the transgender community. The purpose of the current study is to understand the patients' concerns with respect to benefits and risks associated with gender reassignment therapies.
Methods: Data were obtained from the "Transgender Health Priorities Survey." The main outcome variables were questions related to the specific benefits and risks thought to be associated with gender identity disorder and gender reassignment therapy. The participants were asked to prioritize these questions to allow gauging their relative importance. Multivariable analyses were performed to assess the demographic and clinical predictors of the relative priority assigned to each question.
Results: A total of 173 participants were included in the final analysis. Age and transgender direction were the only covariates that were statistically significantly associated with any of the health priorities questions. Both younger participants and male-to-female (MTF) participants were more interested than their respective counterparts in the ability of hormonal and surgical therapies to diminish stress and anguish. Conversely, older participants and female-to-male (FTM) participants were more interested in whether hormonal treatment could decrease the need for antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications.
Conclusion: These findings indicate subtle differences in the health-related priorities of transgender persons, mostly based on their age and transgender direction. Further studies with higher statistical power are needed to better understand the health concerns and research priorities in the transgender community.

Table of Contents

1 List of Tables i
2 Background 1
3 Methods 3
4 Results 7
5 Discussion 9
6 Strengths and Weaknesses 10
7 Conclusion 11
8 References 12
9 Tables 15
10 Appendix A: Transgender Health Priorities Survey (THPS) 25
11 Appendix B: SF-36 Questionnaire 31
12 Appendix C: The Gender Identity / Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults 37

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