AT ACOG 2017
SAN DIEGO (FRONTLINE MEDICAL NEWS) – Most transgender men have visited a gynecologist’s office at least once, but just 37% attend annual visits, results from a small survey showed.
“We’re seeing a large need and lack of access to gynecologic care,” Adriana J. Wong, the study author, said in an interview at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “Some barriers that we’ve identified are fear of mistreatment, a perceived lack of informed providers, and gender dysphoria.”
A 2011 opinion from ACOG’s Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women urges clinicians to provide quality health care to transgender patients, yet a 2015 survey published in the Journal of Woman’s Health found that just 29% of ob.gyns. report feeling comfortable caring for transgender men ( 2015 Feb;24[2]:114-8 ).
In an effort to assess transgender men’s experiences with, ability to access, and understanding of gynecologic care, Ms. Wong and her associates distributed an anonymous Web-based and paper-based survey to a convenience sample of transgender men in the Miami area. The mean age of the 41 respondents was 28 years, 56% were white, 41% had a high school diploma, 27% had a college degree, and 17% had a graduate degree.
The majority of survey participants (78%) reported having been to a gynecologist, 37% attended annual visits, 78% had health insurance, 56% delayed care because of gender identity concerns, and 20% experienced mistreatment at a gynecologist’s office.
Respondents reported delaying or avoiding care because they “felt uncomfortable with the extremely gendered experience of [gynecologic] care,” “fear of mistreatment,” and “my dysphoria prevented me. Plus, I wasn’t sure if there were friendly ob.gyns. around.”
“One of the most distinctive things to me is that we had a pretty well-insured population in our sample, and they were mostly Caucasian,” said Ms. Wong, a second-year medical student at the University of Miami. “Even though almost 80% were insured, [fewer] than 40% were receiving annual visits. This is the population that would potentially have the best possibility of receiving care, but they’re not seeking it out.”
The researchers reported having no relevant financial disclosures.
