Gender minority stress and access to health care services among transgender women and transfeminine people: results from a cross-sectional study in China

BACKGROUND: Transgender and gender diverse individuals often face structural barriers to health care because of their gender minority status. The aim of this study was to examine the association between gender minority stress and access to specific health care services among transgender women and transfeminine people in China. METHODS: This multicenter cross-sectional study recruited participants between January 1st and June 30th 2020. Eligible participants were 18 years or older, assigned male at birth, not currently identifying as male, and living in China. Gender minority stress was measured using 45 items adapted from validated subscales. We examined access to health care services and interventions relevant to transgender and gender diverse people, including gender affirming interventions (hormones, surgeries), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Multivariable regression was used to measure correlations between gender minority stress and access to health care service. RESULTS: Three hundred and twenty-four people completed a survey and data from 277 (85.5%) people were analyzed. The mean age was 29 years old (standard deviation [SD] = 8). Participants used hormones (118/277, 42.6%), gender affirming surgery (26/277, 9.4%), HIV testing (220/277, 79.4%), STI testing (132/277, 47.7%), PrEP (24/276, 8.7%), and PEP (29/267, 10.9%). Using gender affirming hormones was associated with higher levels of discrimination (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–1.70) and internalized transphobia (aOR 1.06, 95%CI 1.00–1.12). STI testing was associated with lower levels of internalized transphobia (aOR 0.91, 95%CI 0.84–0.98). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that gender minority stress is closely related to using health services. Stigma reduction interventions and gender-affirming medical support are needed to improve transgender health. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-021-06782-5.