Gynecologic Health Care Providers' Willingness to Provide Routine Care and Papanicolaou Tests for Transmasculine Individuals

Evidence-based relationship variables when working with affectional and gender minority clients: A systematic review.

“…Affective empathy (e.g., warmth, compassion, reacting to another’s feelings) was more important than “walking in the shoes” of the client (Love et al, 2015). These results were similar in a sample of physicians specializing in gynecological care (Shires et al, 2019). The providers ( N = 60 physicians) were asked about their willingness to provide routine care to transmasculine (i.e., transgender individuals who identify as masculine) adults.…”

“…Of the six studies that examined provider self-report, two were hypothetical in nature, about willingness to engage or work with AGM populations (Maley & Gross, 2019; Shires, Prieto, Woodford, Jaffee, & Stroumsa, 2019). Of the seven studies that examined client self-report, just one was a hypothetical examination of service preferences for a proposed pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) program (Witzel et al, 2018).…”

“…In comparing the six studies that examined providers’ attitudes toward working with AGM-identifying clients, there was variability in study design. For example, three utilized a cross-sectional survey design (Love, Smith, Lyall, Mullins, & Cohn, 2015; Maley & Gross, 2019; Shires et al, 2019;), two utilized semistructured interviews (Harmon & Donohue, 2018; Porter, Hulbert-Williams, & Chadwick, 2015), and one used a prepost design following a training intervention (Pepping, Lyons, & Morris, 2018). There was also variability in how generalizable samples are to community providers.…”

“…Studies often had missing information that, had it been present, would have aided in further interpretation. Sexual orientation of the provider was not assessed in three studies (Harmon & Donohue, 2018; Maley & Gross, 2019; Shires et al, 2019), and of the studies that did report sexual orientation, the provider samples were over 70% heterosexual.…”

“…Providers’ empathy was associated with affirmative practice (Love et al, 2015), and gynecological physicians who were more empathic showed more willingness and acceptance of affirmative care practice (Shires et al, 2019). These results suggest that a strong core component of affirmative practice is responding with warmth and compassion toward others’ feelings, rather than simply having an understanding or an ability to take on the perspective of one’s client.…”