Clinical and socio-demographic factors influencing social adaptation in individuals with gender incongruence

Abstract

Objective: to identify potentially reversible clinical and socio-demographic factors influencing the social adaptation of patients with gender incongruence (GI). Materials and methods: a retrospective analysis of 926 patient records with MtF and FtM GI was performed. Results: among the patients who applied, 44.38% were MtF, 55.62% were FtM. The mean age was 24.0 years (from 13 to 65 years). The educational level of patients is mainly represented by higher (44.2%) and specialized (22.3%) education, 43% of persons lived in the village, 57% - in urban areas. The majority of those who applied grew up in a complete family (82.02%). The first manifestations of GI started mainly in the prepubertal (26.4%) and parapubertal (61.6%) period (up to 13 years). The average age of accepting oneself as a transgender person was 17.0 years. Steps to reduce dysphoria and receive specialized care are usually taken after the age of 20. 83.1% of transgender patients had depressive episodes, and a third (38.5%) had autoaggression. Additional psychiatric diagnoses were present in 24.5% of patients and are represented by 3 groups of diseases: group 1 (6.2%) — potentially reversible neurotic disorders; group 2 (14.1%) — background mental illnesses that are not the cause of GI; group 3 (4.3%) — other mental states with “ideas of sex change”. Conclusions: improvement of social adaptation and prevention of emotional and psychological experiences in persons with GI, assistance is possible at several levels: family, educational institutions, medical community, patient organizations.