Examining general, physical, and mental health disparities between transgender and cisgender adults in the U.S.

IF 4.5 2区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

International Journal for Equity in Health Pub Date : 2025-02-04 DOI:10.1186/s12939-024-02364-4

Sunday Azagba, Galappaththige S R de Silva, Todd Ebling

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: With the proliferation of anti-transgender policies in some U.S. jurisdictions, this study examines the general, mental, and physical health of transgender and cisgender populations.

Methods: Data from the 2020-2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were analyzed to examine associations between gender identity and health outcomes. Propensity score weighting was used to address potential imbalances among group characteristics. We conducted logistic regression for the binary outcome of self-rated health and quasi-Poisson regression for the number of days reporting poor mental and physical health.

Results: Results reveal significant disparities in health outcomes, with transgender individuals reporting lower proportions of good general health and more days of poor mental and physical health compared to cisgender individuals. In the adjusted analyses, transgender individuals were significantly less likely to report good general health compared to cisgender peers (OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.52-0.69). Gender nonconforming (GNC), male-to-female (MTF), and female-to-male (FTM) individuals had lower odds of reporting good general health compared to cisgender individuals (GNC, OR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.35-0.61; MTF, OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.53-0.85; FTM, OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.57-0.87). GNC individuals had an 86% higher frequency of poor mental health days (IRR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.57-2.21) and a 37% higher frequency of poor physical health days (IRR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.15-1.63) compared to cisgender counterparts. Similarly, MTF and FTM individuals had significantly higher frequencies of poor mental and physical health days.

Conclusions: The study highlights significant health disparities faced by transgender individuals, who report poorer general, mental, and physical health. These findings underscore the need to address the unique challenges and improve health outcomes within the transgender community.

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研究美国变性成年人与同性成年人在一般健康、身体健康和心理健康方面的差异。

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来源期刊

International Journal for Equity in Health Medicine-Health Policy

CiteScore

7.80

自引率

4.20%

发文量

162

审稿时长

28 weeks

期刊介绍： International Journal for Equity in Health is an Open Access, peer-reviewed, online journal presenting evidence relevant to the search for, and attainment of, equity in health across and within countries. International Journal for Equity in Health aims to improve the understanding of issues that influence the health of populations. This includes the discussion of political, policy-related, economic, social and health services-related influences, particularly with regard to systematic differences in distributions of one or more aspects of health in population groups defined demographically, geographically, or socially.