Health of Non-binary and Genderqueer People: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Non-binary and genderqueer (NBGQ) people are those who do not identify within the gender binary system (male vs. female), not falling exclusively in man/male or woman/female normative categories. A higher proportion of NBGQ people is usually found within young persons. This population is marginalized and, as such, is at risk of stigmatization and of developing negative health outcomes. As literature on the health of NBGQ people is sparse, this study aims at systematically review the limited studies on this field. Methods: The research questions which guided the systematic review were: (1) What are the differences in the health levels between NBGQ and binary transgender (BT) individuals? (2) What are the differences in the health levels between NBGQ and cisgender individuals? (3) Which medical and psychological interventions are most suitable for improving NBGQ health? According to PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted in PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Results: Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria for the current systematic review. Among them, 9 were focused on the health differences between NBGQ and BT individuals, 4 of the latter and 1 individually were focused on the health differences between NBGQ and cisgender individuals, and 1 was focused on the evaluation of health outcomes related to medical procedures. No studies assessed psychological interventions aimed at improving health in NBGQ individuals. All studies were cross-sectional, did not generally recruit a large sample of NBGQ individuals, and used non-probability sample design. Results related to the difference in health between NBGQ and BT were mixed; indeed, some found a better health status while others a worse one. Results related to the differences in health between NBGQ and cisgender highlighted higher health needs in NBGQ than in BT individuals. The only study analyzing the effects of medical interventions on health found that NBGQ female-assigned at birth individuals improved their quality of life after chest surgery. Conclusions: Although scholars are starting to pay attention to the NBGQ health, research needs to be expanded both in terms of methodology and research contents. Clinical, health-related social policies, and research recommendations in this field are reported.

Comparing the health of non-binary and binary transgender adults in a statewide non-probability sample

“…Findings add to the nascent health research literature about the social and health status of non-binary people. [10] Gender identity measures that include binary and non-binary response options are recommended to inform future research and clinical care with transgender populations.…”

“…[5,6] However, very little research and empirical data are available to understand similarities and differences in the health risks, conditions, and needs of diverse groups of transgender people, including those who identify outside the gender binary. [7][8][9][10] Non-binary refers to transgender people who have a gender identity that does not align with their sex assigned at birth and who identify outside of the traditional female-male gender binary, such as genderqueer, genderfluid, or gender nonconforming. [8] Non-binary people may have an identity and/or expression that is either feminine or masculine, both feminine and masculine, or neither.…”

“…[11] A recent review of non-binary health research identified fewer than one dozen published studies. [10] Additional research is needed to characterize non-binary and binary people in order to enhance epidemiologic conclusions that can be drawn about these groups.…”

Improvement in Gender and Transgender Knowledge in University Students Through the Creative Factory Methodology

“…There is a plethora of research that has been done in the context of gender studies has been on research on sexism and homophobia. And although there are more and more studies that have been conducted on the prejudices that exist against people with transgender identities (e.g., Grant et al, 2011;Morison et al, 2018), comprehensive studies targeting the general transgender population are still lacking (Scandurra et al, 2019). Likewise, there is also budding body of research investigating in particular the attitudes of helping professionals toward transgender persons (e.g., Stryker et al, 2019).…”

Sex and gender differences and biases in artificial intelligence for biomedicine and healthcare

“…Moreover, differences in lifestyle factors that are associated with sex and gender, such as diet, physical activity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption, also correlate with the epidemiology of diseases [9][10][11] . Nonetheless, there are still open questions regarding health differences across the gender spectrum, reflected by the scarcity of studies dedicated to intersex, transgender and nonbinary individuals 12,13 . Initiatives, such as the Global Trans Research Evidence Map 14 , foster research access in this area to improve our understanding of the effects of medical interventions on health and life quality across the gender spectrum.…”