RF26-03 Assessment of Sociodemographic and psychiatric characteristics of Transgender Adults seen at a Midwest Tertiary Medical Center

Abstract S. Cortez: None. Background: Some transgender individuals experience gender dysphoria (GD) which affects their psychosocial development leading to psychiatric illnesses. Despite this knowledge and having a large body of literature characterizing psychiatric illness in various subsets of the U.S. population, there is a paucity of data quantifying the prevalence of psychiatric illness and its burden in the adult transgender population Our study aims to assess the mental health characteristics of transgender adults seen at a large midwest transgender clinic and factors associated with mental health diagnosis and access to mental health care providers.Methods: This is a descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study. Participants included new transgender patients 18 years and older seen between December 2019 and June 2022.Results: A total of 482 charts were reviewed during the study period. Sample had a mean age of 28.5 years and ranged from 18 years to 75 years of age, primarily white, non-Hispanic. Over 90% had primary insurance, less than half had a psychiatrist or therapist and about two thirds reported having a primary care physician. Also, 11.6% reported having a history of suicide attempt during their initial evaluation and 80% reported a mental health diagnosis with the most common ones being depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Logistic regression models were performed to assess the effect of factors on self-reported mental health diagnosis and seen a mental health care provider over the last year. Factors in the model include age, race, gender identity, primary health insurance, whether patient was new to gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) or continuation of therapy prescribed by outside provider, if patient was referred from the Transgender Pediatric Center, and the Area of Deprivation Index at a state and national level. None of these factors were significantly associated with self-reported mental health diagnosis during initial visit.After controlling for all abovementioned factors, patients who were new to GAHT are 1.97 times more likely to have a mental health care provider and have seen them over the last year that those patients who were seen for continuation of therapy. We can state with 95% confidence that in the general transgender population the odds for having a mental health care provider for those new to GAHT can range from 1.4 to 2.9 times higher than individuals who are seen for continuation of therapy. The CI is narrow, and it includes a clinically and statistically significant result. Conclusion: Transgender patients have a higher prevalence of lifetime suicide attempt (11.6% vs 4.6% in general population) and any mental health illness (80% vs 22.8% among US adults) compared to the general population. This higher risk for mental health illness was not associated with sociodemographic factors included in the study but rather from their gender dysphoria. Monday, June 3, 2024