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. 2018 Nov;26(4):263-268.
doi: 10.1177/2292550318767437. Epub 2018 Apr 23.

Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Individuals: Perceived Satisfaction and Barriers to Care

Hadal El-Hadi  1 , Jill Stone  1 , Claire Temple-Oberle  1 , Alan Robertson Harrop  1
Affiliations

Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Individuals: Perceived Satisfaction and Barriers to Care

Hadal El-Hadi et al. Plast Surg (Oakv). 2018 Nov.

Abstract
in English, French

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived satisfaction and barriers to care for transgender patients after they decide to undergo gender-affirming surgery (GAS).

Method: A survey consisting of 21 multiple-choice and short-answer questions was distributed to transgender organizations and online forums across Canada and the United States. The data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: There were 32 participants, 12 who identified as female to male and 20 as male to female. The mean age was 36 years, with a range of 18 to 81 years. The mean age of their first GAS was 33 years, and the range of wait time was 6 months to 7 years. Most of the participants received information about GAS from transgender websites and transgender surgery clinics (91% and 50%, respectively). Most participants (74%) felt like they had access to appropriate care and 89% felt like their surgeons provided enough information about GAS. There were 38% of participants who would change their experience with GAS. Participants stated several barriers toward receiving GAS: financial (73%), finding a physician (65%), and access to information (63%). Surgical transition was important to the quality of life for 91% of participants and 100% were happy with their decision to undergo GAS.

Conclusions: Transgender participants demonstrated that GAS is important to their quality of life and this study showed significant barriers to GAS.

Objectif: La présente étude visait à examiner la perception de satisfaction et d’obstacles aux soins de la part des patients transgenres après qu’ils ont décidé de subir une opération de réassignation de genre (ORG).

Méthodologie: Les chercheurs ont distribué un sondage composé de 21 questions à choix multiple et à réponse courte aux organisations transgenres et aux forums en ligne du Canada et des États-Unis. Ils ont ensuite analysé les données à l’aide de statistiques descriptives.

Résultats: Au total, 32 personnes ont participé au sondage. Douze se sont identifiés comme hommes trans et 20, comme femmes trans. Ils avaient un âge moyen de 36 ans (plage de 18 à 81 ans). Ils avaient un âge moyen de 33 ans lors de leur première ORG et avaient dû attendre de six mois à sept ans pour la subir. La plupart des participants avaient reçu de l’information au sujet de l’ORG dans des sites pour les personnes transgenres et des cliniques chirurgicales de réassignation de genre (91 % et 50 %, respectivement). La plupart des participants (74 %) trouvaient qu’ils avaient eu accès à des soins appropriés et 89 % trouvaient que leur chirurgien leur avait fourni assez d’information sur l’ORG. Cependant, 38 % des participants auraient modifié leur expérience de l’ORG. Les participants ont souligné plusieurs obstacles à l’ORG : la question financière (73 %), la quête d’un médecin (65 %) et l’accès à l’information (63 %). La transition chirurgicale était importante pour la qualité de vie de 91 % des participants et ils étaient tous heureux d’avoir subi une ORG.

Conclusions: Les participants transgenres ont démontré que l’ORG est importante pour leur qualité de vie, et la présente étude a établi qu’ils devaient affronter des obstacles substantiels pour y accéder.

Keywords: barriers; gender reassignment surgery; gender-affirming surgery; gender-confirming surgery; genital reconstruction surgery; sex reassignment; surgery; transgender.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Female to male procedures.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Male to female procedures.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Barriers to gender-affirming surgery.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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