High frequency of psychological vulnerability of transgender population consulting at a public hospital in the City of Buenos Aires

Introduction: Discrimination heavily impacts the lives of trans population and causes adverse mental health outcomes. Little research has described risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt among transgender people in Argentina. We aimed to assess psychological distress and its determinants in trans persons.

Materials and method: Electronic medical records were reviewed to collect self-reported demographic data, sexual orientation, gender identity, self-harm, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. The sample consisted of 934 transgender persons: 359 assigned male at birth and 575 assigned female at birth.

Results: 33.1% reported sexual abuse, 63.3% bullying, 40.9% self-harm, 52.7% suicidal ideation, and 25.2% suicide attempts. Transgender assigned female al birth reported significantly more psychological burdens on all measures. In a multivariate model, being younger, sexual minority identification, being assigned female al birth, having a history of bullying and sexual abuse were positively associated with a history of self-injury and suicidality.

Conclusion: On the basis of the above, we conclude that there is an urgent need to address the welfare and mental health of transgender individuals.