Transgender Health

Descriptive text is not available for this image BASICS

DESCRIPTION

  • Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) is a term meant to be inclusive of people of various global communities whose gender identity and/or expression is incongruent with societal attributes typically associated with their sex assigned at birth.
  • There are a number of social and health disparities that exist amongst TGD people, including increased rates of harassment, homelessness, anxiety, depression, suicidality, cardiovascular disease, and substance abuse, in part due to discrimination faced or fear of discrimination within the community and when seeking health care.
  • Better education of clinicians is imperative to bridge some of the gaps in care and improve the health of the TGD population; such education begins with creating a welcoming and safe environment for transgender individuals to speak openly with knowledgeable and culturally sensitive clinicians.

EPIDEMIOLOGY

  • Approximately 1.3 million U.S. adults (4.6% of adults assigned male at birth and 3.2% of adults assigned female at birth) and up to 2.7% of children and adolescents identify as transgender. These populations have approximately doubled in the past decade and are expected to continue to grow (1).
  • It is difficult to estimate the size of the TGD population worldwide due to the lack of standardized methodologies and systematically reviewed data from studies aiming to assess the number or proportion of TGD people (2).

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