Gender Dysphoria in the Pediatric Population: Initial Experience of a Transdisciplinary Group
Disforia de género en la población pediátrica: experiencia inicial de un grupo transdisciplinario
urol. colomb. (Bogotá. En línea); 30 (4), 2021
Publication year: 2021
Introduction Although there is an increasing experience in the management of transgender individuals, this has not been thoroughly explored in children. The need to establish a comprehensive and transdisciplinary management is of critical importance. In order to solve this issue, we want to report the results of a cohort of individuals with gender dysphoria (GD) seen by our transdisciplinary group from a social and clinical and health access perspective.
Methods A 10-year retrospective case series of all patients that had been seen by our transdisciplinary team was reviewed. The main demographic characteristics were described, as well as impact variables in terms of diagnosis and treatment of these individuals. A social description of each individual was described. Frequency, distribution, and central tendency measures were evaluated for data presentation. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 24.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY) software was used.
Results Four cases of GD were included. Three had male to female dysphoria and one female to male. The median reported age of GD awareness was 6 years old (between 4 and 8 years old), and the median time between GD awareness and the 1st medical evaluation was 7 years for all individuals. The median age at gender role expression was 12 years old (between 10 and 14 years old). All patients had already assumed their experienced gender role before the 1st evaluation by our group. The median age at the 1st evaluation by our group was 13 years old (between 10 and 16 years old); three of the patients were evaluated after initiation of puberty. In the present study, individuals with GD demonstrated having health care access barriers for their transition process. Referral times are high, and individuals with GD are cared after pubertal development, which is related to suboptimal outcomes. The spectrum of GD is broad, and management must be individualized according to expectations.
Conclusion Individuals with GD face multiple access barriers that limit their possibility of being seen by a transdisciplinary team. This reflects in longer waiting times that negatively impact medical management. Gender dysphoria is a wide spectrum, and individuals should be evaluated individually by a transdisciplinary team.
Introducción En las ultimas décadas se ha ganado más experiencia en el manejo de individuos con disforia de genero (DG). Sin embargo, en la población pediátrica esto aun no se ha explorado completamente. La necesidad de ofrecer un manejo cuidadoso y transdisciplinario es de gran importancia. El objetivo de este estudio es presentar la experiencia de nuestro grupo transdisciplinario (GT) en el abordaje de pacientes con DG desde el punto de vista medico y social.
Materiales y métodos Se realizó un análisis descriptivo de los casos de DG en menores de 18 años tratados en los últimos 10 años por el GT de Desórdenes del Desarrollo e Identidad Sexual. Se usaron medidas de frecuencia y tendencia central para la presentación de datos mediante el programa SPSS, versión 24.0.