Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015;17(1):92-103.
doi: 10.1080/13691058.2014.950982. Epub 2014 Oct 1.

Cross-sex hormone use, functional health and mental well-being among transgender men (Toms) and Transgender Women (Kathoeys) in Thailand

Louis J Gooren  1 , Tanapong Sungkaew, Erik J Giltay, Thomas E Guadamuz
Affiliations

Cross-sex hormone use, functional health and mental well-being among transgender men (Toms) and Transgender Women (Kathoeys) in Thailand

Louis J Gooren et al. Cult Health Sex. 2015.

Abstract

There exists limited understanding of cross-sex hormone use and mental well-being among transgender women and, particularly, among transgender men. Moreover, most studies of transgender people have taken place in the Global North and often in the context of HIV. This exploratory study compared 60 transgender men (toms) with 60 transgender women (kathoeys) regarding their use of cross-sex hormones, mental well-being and acceptance by their family. Participants also completed a dispositional optimism scale (the Life Orientation Test Revised), the Social Functioning Questionnaire and the Short Form Health Survey 36 assessing their profile of functional health and mental well-being. Cross-sex hormones were used by 35% of toms and 73% of kathoeys and were largely unsupervised by health-related personnel. There were no differences in functional health and mental well-being among toms and kathoeys. However, toms currently using cross-sex hormones scored on average poorer on bodily pain and mental health, compared to non-users. Furthermore, compared to non-users, cross-sex hormone users were about eight times and five times more likely to be associated with poor parental acceptance among toms and kathoeys, respectively. This study was the first to compare cross-sex hormone use, functional health and mental well-being among transgender women and transgender men in Southeast Asia.

Keywords: Thailand; cross-sex hormones; mental health; transgender; young people.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Asia Pacific Transgender Network and World Health Organization. Regional assessment of hiv, sti and other health needs of transgender people in Asia and the Pacific. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2013.
    1. Asscheman H, Giltay EJ, Megens JA, De Ronde WP, Van Trotsenburg MA, Gooren LJ. A long-term follow-up study of mortality in transsexuals receiving treatment with cross-sex hormones. European Journal of Endocrinology. 2011;164(4):635–642. - PubMed
    1. Baral SD, Poteat T, Stromdahl S, Wirtz AL, Guadamuz TE, Beyrer C. Worldwide burden of HIV in transgender women: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infectious Disease. 2013;13(3):214–222. - PubMed
    1. Bowling A, Bond M, Jenkinson C, Lamping DL. Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey questionnaire: which normative data should be used? Comparisons between the norms provided by the Omnibus Survey in Britain, the Health Survey for England and the Oxford Healthy Life Survey. Journal of Public Health Medicine. 1999;21(3):255–270. - PubMed
    1. Chonwilai S. Kathoey: Male-to-female transgenders or transsexuals. In: Boonmongkon P, Jackson PA, editors. Thai Sex Talk: The language of sex and sexuality in Thailand. Chinag Mai: Mekong Press; 2012. pp. 109–117.

Publication types

Substances