Gender-affirming surgery in the US almost triples in 3 years

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-08-24 01:00

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US scientists say gender-affirming surgery in the USA nearly tripled between 2016 and 2019, before dropping off in 2020 as COVID-19 hit. The team looked at health records of 48,019 patients who underwent gender-affirming surgery to investigate trends in these procedures, finding most patients were aged between 19 and 40, with around one in 13 aged 12 to 18. Breast and chest procedures were the most commonly performed. They also found older patients were more likely to have genital surgery. The rapid increase in demand for these surgeries means healthcare professionals must make sure they're up-to-speed when it comes to caring for transgender people, the authors conclude.

Media release

From: JAMA

National Estimates of Gender-Affirming Surgery

About The Study: In this study of 48,000 patients, gender-affirming surgery increased significantly in the U.S., nearly tripling from 2016 to 2019. Breast and chest surgery was the most common class of procedures performed overall. The number of genital surgical procedures performed increased with increasing age.

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Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Columbia University, USA

Funder: No information provided.

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