Clinical and Psychosocial Burden of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Among Transgender Individuals: A National BioResource Cohort Study.

Abstract

Purpose: Transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals are under-represented in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) research, and little is known about their diagnostic experiences, disease burden, mental health comorbidity, or quality of life (QoL). We therefore aimed to characterise clinical features, diagnostic timelines, comorbidity, and QoL among TGNC people with IBD and to contextualise key outcomes using a matched cisgender cohort.

Patients and methods: We conducted a nationwide cohort study within the IBD BioResource population. Using questionnaires and linked BioResource data, we collected information on demographics, clinical history, gender-affirming care, comorbidity, and QoL. TGNC participants were matched to cisgender controls by sex and age category for a contextual and exploratory comparison. Analyses were performed using regression models.

Results: Thirty-nine TGNC participants responded (46.2% Crohn's disease, 43.6% ulcerative colitis, 10.3% IBD-unclassified). Median time from symptom onset to diagnosis was 10.5 months (interquartile range 6.0-18.0), 62.3% reported prior hospitalisation and 28.2% prior IBD surgery. Psychiatric comorbidity was frequent (79%). Gender-affirming hormone therapy was reported in 30.7% and prior gender-affirming surgery in 17.9%. Matched analyses demonstrated a trend towards longer diagnostic delays and higher rates of hospitalisation and IBD-related surgery in TGNC participants. Psychiatric comorbidity was significantly higher (79.5% vs 56.8%, p=0.033). QoL impairment was substantial and broadly comparable between groups.

Conclusion: TGNC individuals with IBD demonstrated a high burden of psychiatric comorbidity and signals of longer diagnostic timelines and poorer disease control compared with cisgender peers. These findings highlight potential disparities across IBD care pathways and underscore the need for larger, dedicated studies.