Gender-Affirming Surgical History, Satisfaction, and Unmet Needs Among Transgender Adults.

IMPORTANCE

Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is an effective treatment for gender dysphoria among transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse (TGD) individuals. Research is needed to assess GAS history, factors associated with GAS satisfaction, desired yet unobtained GAS, and barriers and facilitators to GAS access for TGD individuals.

OBJECTIVE

To assess of the prevalence of GAS, surgical satisfaction, and encountered barriers among TGD adults and the factors associated with these outcomes.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study, conducted from October 2024 to June 2025, used baseline electronic survey data from TGD adult primary care patients enrolled in LEGACY, a longitudinal cohort study. Data were collected from February 2019 to March 2021.

EXPOSURES

Age, gender identity, race, Latine or Hispanic ethnicity, educational attainment, homelessness, income, health insurance, HIV status, gender marker change, gender-affirming hormone use, severe psychological distress, self-rated health, and participation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The main outcomes were receipt of GAS, high surgical satisfaction, and encountered barriers to GAS (eg, waiting lists, cost). Descriptive analyses and logistic regression models, stratified by gender identity, were used to examine the association between the exposures and these outcomes.

RESULTS

The study cohort of 2176 patients were a mean (SD) age of 30.3 (10.3) years; 1413 (64.9%) identified as transmasculine (TM), 763 (35.1%) as transfeminine (TF), and 672 (30.9%) as nonbinary. A total of 634 patients (29.1%) identified as a member of a racial minority group and 237 (10.9%) as Latine or Hispanic. Overall, 946 patients (43.5%) had received GAS, and 776 of these patients (82.0%) reported high satisfaction. The most desired surgeries were hysterectomy (868 of 1413 [61.4%]) for TM patients and facial feminization (516 of 763 [67.6%]) for TF patients. Most patients (2054 [94.4%]) encountered a barrier to GAS, with the most common being cost (1455 [66.9%]). In multivariable models, younger age (eg, 18-24 years vs ≥40 years) was associated with lower odds of GAS (TM patients: adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.19 [95% CI, 0.11-0.34]; TF patients: AOR, 0.22 [95% CI, 0.12-0.42]) and higher odds of encountering a barrier (TM patients: AOR, 3.16 [95% CI, 1.59-6.30]; TF patients: AOR, 9.39 [95% CI, 2.47-35.67]). Gender marker change (TM patients: AOR, 8.61 [95% CI, 6.19-11.98]; TF patients: AOR, 6.29 [95% CI, 4.01-9.87) and hormone use (TM patients: AOR, 4.71 [95% CI, 3.02-7.34]; TF patients: AOR, 7.69 [95% CI, 1.79-33.04]) were associated with greater odds of GAS; lack of insurance was associated with lower satisfaction (TM patients: AOR, 0.31 [95% CI, 0.13-0.76]; TF patients: AOR, 0.09 [95% CI, 0.02-0.49]).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this cross-sectional study, TGD patients reported high GAS satisfaction but substantial unmet need and frequent barriers to care. Efforts appear to be needed to improve accessibility for TGD patients desiring GAS.