Advancing methods for US transgender health research

Sari L. Reisner; Madeline B. Deutsch; Shalender Bhasin; Walter Bockting; George R. Brown; Jamie Feldman; Rob Garofalo; Baudewijntje Kreukels; Asa Radix; Joshua D. Safer; Vin Tangpricha; Guy T'Sjoen; Michael Goodman

doi:10.1097/MED.0000000000000229

Advancing methods for US transgender health research

Sari L. Reisner, Madeline B. Deutsch, Shalender Bhasin, Walter Bockting, George R. Brown, Jamie Feldman, Rob Garofalo, Baudewijntje Kreukels, Asa Radix, Joshua D. Safer, Vin Tangpricha, Guy T'Sjoen, Michael Goodman

Family Medicine and Community Health (Twin Cities)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

123 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose of review This article describes methodological challenges, gaps, and opportunities in US transgender health research. Recent findings Lack of large prospective observational studies and intervention trials, limited data on risks and benefits of sex affirmation (e.g., hormones and surgical interventions), and inconsistent use of definitions across studies hinder evidence-based care for transgender people. Systematic high-quality observational and interventiontesting studies may be carried out using several approaches, including general population-based, health systems-based, clinic-based, venue-based, and hybrid designs. Each of these approaches has its strength and limitations; however, harmonization of research efforts is needed. Ongoing development of evidencebased clinical recommendations will benefit from a series of observational and intervention studies aimed at identification, recruitment, and follow-up of transgender people of different ages, from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and with diverse gender identities. Summary Transgender health research faces challenges that include standardization of lexicon, agreed upon population definitions, study design, sampling, measurement, outcome ascertainment, and sample size. Application of existing and new methods is needed to fill existing gaps, increase the scientific rigor and reach of transgender health research, and inform evidence-based prevention and care for this underserved population.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	198-207
Number of pages	10
Journal	Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity
Volume	23
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1097/MED.0000000000000229
State	Published - 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (R13HD084267), the Endocrine Society, the Tawani Foundation, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), and the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, the Endocrine Society, WPATH, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr Reisner was partially supported through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Award (CER-1403-12625). Dr Goodman was partially supported through a PCORI Award (AD-12-11-4532) and by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number R21HD076387. All statements in this report, including its findings and conclusions, are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of PCORI, its Board of Governors, or Methodology Committee. Likewise, the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Health Disparity
Research Methods
Transgender

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Publisher link

10.1097/MED.0000000000000229

http://europepmc.org/articles/pmc4916925

Find It

Find It at U of M Libraries

Cite this

@article{bbfd890279a3439395911f92c694a1ea,

title = "Advancing methods for US transgender health research",

abstract = "Purpose of review This article describes methodological challenges, gaps, and opportunities in US transgender health research. Recent findings Lack of large prospective observational studies and intervention trials, limited data on risks and benefits of sex affirmation (e.g., hormones and surgical interventions), and inconsistent use of definitions across studies hinder evidence-based care for transgender people. Systematic high-quality observational and interventiontesting studies may be carried out using several approaches, including general population-based, health systems-based, clinic-based, venue-based, and hybrid designs. Each of these approaches has its strength and limitations; however, harmonization of research efforts is needed. Ongoing development of evidencebased clinical recommendations will benefit from a series of observational and intervention studies aimed at identification, recruitment, and follow-up of transgender people of different ages, from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and with diverse gender identities. Summary Transgender health research faces challenges that include standardization of lexicon, agreed upon population definitions, study design, sampling, measurement, outcome ascertainment, and sample size. Application of existing and new methods is needed to fill existing gaps, increase the scientific rigor and reach of transgender health research, and inform evidence-based prevention and care for this underserved population.",

keywords = "Health Disparity, Research Methods, Transgender",

author = "Reisner, {Sari L.} and Deutsch, {Madeline B.} and Shalender Bhasin and Walter Bockting and Brown, {George R.} and Jamie Feldman and Rob Garofalo and Baudewijntje Kreukels and Asa Radix and Safer, {Joshua D.} and Vin Tangpricha and Guy T'Sjoen and Michael Goodman",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (R13HD084267), the Endocrine Society, the Tawani Foundation, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), and the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, the Endocrine Society, WPATH, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr Reisner was partially supported through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Award (CER-1403-12625). Dr Goodman was partially supported through a PCORI Award (AD-12-11-4532) and by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number R21HD076387. All statements in this report, including its findings and conclusions, are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of PCORI, its Board of Governors, or Methodology Committee. Likewise, the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.",

year = "2016",

doi = "10.1097/MED.0000000000000229",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "23",

pages = "198--207",

journal = "Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity",

issn = "1752-296X",

publisher = "Lippincott Williams and Wilkins",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Advancing methods for US transgender health research

AU - Reisner, Sari L.

AU - Deutsch, Madeline B.

AU - Bhasin, Shalender

AU - Bockting, Walter

AU - Brown, George R.

AU - Feldman, Jamie

AU - Garofalo, Rob

AU - Kreukels, Baudewijntje

AU - Radix, Asa

AU - Safer, Joshua D.

AU - Tangpricha, Vin

AU - T'Sjoen, Guy

AU - Goodman, Michael

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (R13HD084267), the Endocrine Society, the Tawani Foundation, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), and the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, the Endocrine Society, WPATH, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr Reisner was partially supported through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Award (CER-1403-12625). Dr Goodman was partially supported through a PCORI Award (AD-12-11-4532) and by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number R21HD076387. All statements in this report, including its findings and conclusions, are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of PCORI, its Board of Governors, or Methodology Committee. Likewise, the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Purpose of review This article describes methodological challenges, gaps, and opportunities in US transgender health research. Recent findings Lack of large prospective observational studies and intervention trials, limited data on risks and benefits of sex affirmation (e.g., hormones and surgical interventions), and inconsistent use of definitions across studies hinder evidence-based care for transgender people. Systematic high-quality observational and interventiontesting studies may be carried out using several approaches, including general population-based, health systems-based, clinic-based, venue-based, and hybrid designs. Each of these approaches has its strength and limitations; however, harmonization of research efforts is needed. Ongoing development of evidencebased clinical recommendations will benefit from a series of observational and intervention studies aimed at identification, recruitment, and follow-up of transgender people of different ages, from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and with diverse gender identities. Summary Transgender health research faces challenges that include standardization of lexicon, agreed upon population definitions, study design, sampling, measurement, outcome ascertainment, and sample size. Application of existing and new methods is needed to fill existing gaps, increase the scientific rigor and reach of transgender health research, and inform evidence-based prevention and care for this underserved population.

AB - Purpose of review This article describes methodological challenges, gaps, and opportunities in US transgender health research. Recent findings Lack of large prospective observational studies and intervention trials, limited data on risks and benefits of sex affirmation (e.g., hormones and surgical interventions), and inconsistent use of definitions across studies hinder evidence-based care for transgender people. Systematic high-quality observational and interventiontesting studies may be carried out using several approaches, including general population-based, health systems-based, clinic-based, venue-based, and hybrid designs. Each of these approaches has its strength and limitations; however, harmonization of research efforts is needed. Ongoing development of evidencebased clinical recommendations will benefit from a series of observational and intervention studies aimed at identification, recruitment, and follow-up of transgender people of different ages, from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and with diverse gender identities. Summary Transgender health research faces challenges that include standardization of lexicon, agreed upon population definitions, study design, sampling, measurement, outcome ascertainment, and sample size. Application of existing and new methods is needed to fill existing gaps, increase the scientific rigor and reach of transgender health research, and inform evidence-based prevention and care for this underserved population.

KW - Health Disparity

KW - Research Methods

KW - Transgender

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84960095842&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84960095842&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1097/MED.0000000000000229

DO - 10.1097/MED.0000000000000229

M3 - Review article

C2 - 26845331

AN - SCOPUS:84960095842

SN - 1752-296X

VL - 23

SP - 198

EP - 207

JO - Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity

JF - Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity

IS - 2

ER -

Advancing methods for US transgender health research

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Publisher link

Find It

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this