Top surgery linked to improved body image satisfaction among transgender teens and young adults

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-09-27 01:00

International

PHOTO: Alexander Grey/Unsplash

Top surgery (i.e., a mastectomy or reduction) is a common gender-affirming surgery sought by transmasculine and non-binary people, but little research has been done on outcomes specifically in young people. The researchers followed 36 teens and young adults who underwent the surgery and their outcomes three months later compared to 34 people who didn’t. The US research team found that the surgery was linked to improved chest dysphoria, gender congruence, and body image in transmasculine and nonbinary teens and young adults. An accompanying editorial writes that top surgery is “effective and medically necessary” for this group.

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From:

Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Northwestern University, US; Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, US; University of Illinois at Chicago, US

Funder: Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute is funded in part by a Clinical and Translational Science Award grant from the National Institutes of Health (UL1TR001422) that contributed to collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data. This study was also funded by the Plastic Surgery Foundation and American Association of Pediatric Plastic Surgery Combined Research grant that contributed to collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data.

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