First Australian National Trans Mental Health Study

Completed

• Conditions: Transsexualism
• Interventions: Other: questionnaire

• Registration Number: NCT02119377
• Lead Sponsor: Curtin University

Brief Summary

This is an Internet-based survey of transgender and transsexual (trans) people aged 18 years and older living in Australia. This population has received limited attention from public health researchers, planners, and practitioners. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that trans people experience disparities in several important areas of health compared with the population generally. In particular, trans people are more likely to experience mental health problems (notably depression and anxiety disorders), use alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs, and think about or attempt suicide. Additionally, trans people commonly report that their physical and mental health needs are not met, and underutilise preventive health care.

Participants were recruited using several non-probability sampling techniques, (including purposive sampling and snowball sampling), because random sampling is not possible with this population. Medical, social, support, and advocacy networks used by trans people were used to promote the study. A mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology was used. Validated quantitative instruments were used to obtain measures of health and well-being, which will be compared against population norms. Qualitative items complement these measures, providing rich experiential data.

The investigators hypothesised that:

* the prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders will be higher than for the population generally, and that these conditions will commonly be undiagnosed and untreated;

* depressive and anxiety disorders will be associated with risky behaviours, such as tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use; and,

* trans people will report poor relationships with medical practitioners.

The investigators hypothesised that poor mental health is a consequence of several interrelated factors: body dysphoria (as a consequence of experiencing difficulty accessing medical treatment to alter sexual characteristics); societal discrimination and stigma (including harassment and violence); institutionalised discrimination (including difficulty changing identifying documents, and exclusion of surgical procedures and related treatments from public and private health systems); social isolation; and the belief held by many clinicians that transsexualism is a mental disorder (which may be a barrier to trans people forming trusting relationships with medical practitioners).

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2013-08
• Primary Completion: 2013-12
• Study Completion: 2013-12
• Study First Submitted: 2014-04-16
• Study First Submitted QC: 2014-04-18
• Study First Posted: 2014-04-21
• Status Verified: 2014-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2014-05-05
• Last Update Posted: 2014-05-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 946

Inclusion Criteria

• Live in Australia
• Self-identify as trans

Exclusion Criteria

• Aged less than 18 years

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Transgender and Transsexual People	questionnaire	Transgender and transsexual (trans) people aged 18 years or older living in Australia were invited to complete a questionnaire assessing a range of mental and physical health domains.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed by self-report, and with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)
Perceived physical and mental health status	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed with the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed by self-report
Patient-doctor relationship between trans people and their general practitioners, and doctors generally	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed with the Patient-Doctor Relationship Questionnaire (PDRQ-9) and other quantitative and qualitative questions
Body image	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed with the Body Image Quality of Life Inventory (BIQLI)
Factors that encourage and discourage trans people from accessing health care	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed with qualitative questions
Factors that protect and promote mental health in trans people	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed with qualitative questions
Use of hormone therapy and desire for, and uptake of transition-related surgery	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed with quantitative and qualitative questions
Experiences of discrimination and harassment	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed with quantitative and qualitative questions
Desire to, and success changing identifying documentation	At time of entry into study (cross-sectional)	Assessed with quantitative and qualitative questions

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Curtin University; 🇦🇺 Perth, Western Australia, Australia