Unmet need for gender-affirming care as a social determinant of mental health inequities for transgender youth in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Tan, Kyle K H Byrne, Jack L Treharne, Gareth J Veale, Jaimie F
Copyright Year	2022
Abstract	AbstractBackgroundPast studies have demonstrated better mental health and well-being among transgender youth who had accessed gender-affirming care. However, few existing studies have assessed unmet need for gender-affirming care as a social determinant of mental health inequities.MethodsData on unmet need for gender-affirming care, distress and suicidality were analysed from the 2018 Counting Ourselves nationwide community-based survey of transgender people in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Associations between unmet need for gender-affirming care and mental health indicators were tested for transgender youth within the sample (aged 14–26 years; n = 608; Mage = 20.5).ResultsTransgender youth reported unmet needs ranging from 42% for gender-affirming hormone to 100% for feminizing surgeries and voice surgeries. Overall unmet need for gender-affirming care was associated with worse mental health. Trans men with an unmet need for chest reconstruction (84%) scored an average of 7.13 points higher on the K10 Psychological Distress Scale relative to those whose need had been met. Participants reporting unmet need for hormones (42%) had twice the odds (adjusted odds ratios = 2.01; CI = 1.02–3.98) of having attempted suicide in the last 12 months.ConclusionsDismantling barriers to accessing gender-affirming care could play a crucial role in reducing mental health inequities faced by transgender youth.
Related Links	https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC10273389&blobtype=pdf
Page Count	9
ISSN	17413842
Journal	Journal of Public Health (Oxford, England) [J Public Health (Oxf)]
Volume Number	45
DOI	10.1093/pubmed/fdac131
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10273389
Issue Number	2
PubMed reference number	36468999
e-ISSN	17413850
Language	English
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Publisher Date	2023-06-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com
Subject Keyword	gender-affirming care gender-affirming hormones mental health suicide transgender youth
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health