255450 Health behaviors and perceived healthcare needs of transmasculine adults: Findings from a mixed methods community-based needs assessment, 2011

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM

Sari L. Reisner, MA , The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Kristi E. Gamarel, MA, EdM , Department of Social-Personality Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, CUNY, New York, NY
Emilia Dunham , The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA
Ruben Hopwood, MDiv, PhD-candidate , Transgender Health Program, Fenway Health, Boston, MA
Background: In 2011, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) commissioned by the National Institutes of Health identified “transgender-specific health needs” as a priority research area in addressing sexual orientation and gender minority health disparities.

Methods: This mixed methods formative study sought to investigate a range of under-studied health behaviors and perceived health needs of transmasculine adults (FTM-spectrum) attending a transgender health conference in June 2011. A cross-sectional, brief-intercept sampling method was used to enroll a quantitative needs assessment (N= 73) and gather open-ended qualitative input (N=19).

Results: Participants (mean age 32, range 18-62; 27.4% racial/ethnic minority) described their gender identities as 35.6% man, 32.9% genderqueer, and 31.5% transgender FTM. A high prevalence of potentially adverse health indicators was found: 56.2% overweight, 53.4% lifetime clinical depression diagnosis, 38.4% hazardous drinking, 27.4% low physical activity levels, and 21.9% smoking tobacco. Overall, 45.2% reported avoiding or delaying seeking care in the past 12 months, 15.1% had no health insurance, and 43.8% experienced transphobic discrimination in their lifetime from a healthcare provider. Qualitative themes included: (1) personal healthcare needs: hormones/surgery, health insurance/affording care, and mental health; (2) perceived transgender community needs: culturally competent healthcare providers, hormones/surgery, and health insurance; (3) perceived resilience factors in the transgender community: community connection/cohesiveness, sharing of resources, activism/spiritedness; (4) future research needed in transgender health: longitudinal studies and population-level data.

Discussion: Input from community members represents a critical component for future public health research, policy, programming, and practice that will meet the unique healthcare needs of transgender communities.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture
Program planning
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
To describe the prevalence of diverse health indicators in a formative, community-based mixed methods study of transmasculine adults attending a health conference. To qualitatively understand the actual and perceived unique healthcare needs of transgender adults in order to guide future public health research, policy, programming, and practice.

Keywords: Community-Based Public Health, Special Populations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Sari L. Reisner, M.A., is an Associate Research Scientist at The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health where he is a Co-Investigator on “LifeSkills”, a multi-site R01 (Boston and Chicago) testing the efficacy of an HIV risk reduction intervention with transgender male-to-female youth (PIs: Garafalo & Mimiaga). Reisner is a doctoral student in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health at Harvard School of Public Health (concentrations: social and psychiatric epidemiology, quantitative methods, and human development).
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3245.0: Transgender and Gender Identity Health