Knowledge and Attitudes of Health Care Providers Toward Transgender Patients Within a Rural Tertiary Care Center

Abstract

Purpose: Members of the transgender community face significant health disparities within our society, especially within the state of West Virginia, which is primarily rural. We sought to examine and compare existing attitudes and knowledge of resident and faculty physician medical professionals at our institution about treating transgender individuals within a rural tertiary care center.Methods: The Medical Practitioner Attitudes Towards Transgender Patients (MP-ATTS) survey and the Medical Practitioner Beliefs and Knowledge about Treating Transgender Patients (MP-BKTTP) survey were sent to all faculty and resident physicians at West Virginia University Hospitals. Demographics included information about gender, rurality of hometown, race, and description of medical practitioner status (i.e., years out of residency, residency status).Findings: In general, there were positive attitudes and reception of the survey among residents and faculty physicians. 76.45% of providers assumed that their patients were not transgender. More than 40% of respondents believed that they would need further education about transgender patients to provide appropriate health care. Male health care providers had significantly higher negative perceptions of the transgender community (N=85, M=4.46, standard deviation [SD]=0.55, p<0.0001) and perceived fewer barriers due to personnel (N=80, M=3.24, SD=0.96, p<0.0001).Conclusion: A clear need exists for increased training in transgender health care among physicians taking care of this patient population. A gender divide exists among health care providers within West Virginia over attitudes regarding the transgender community. Further studies are needed to fully understand the health care needs and barriers of the transgender population.

<p>The Need for Transgender Healthcare Medical Education in a Developing Country</p>

“…This, in conjunction with the stratified random sampling method used, contributes to a low response bias, which has been a limitation of previous studies. Moreover, the questionnaire in this study was adapted using elements from pre-existing questionnaires, [32][33][34] and was constructed in close collaboration with the Aga Khan University's Department of Community Health Sciences. Thus, the development of the questionnaire was informed by faculty experts in Community Medicine, Reproductive Health and Epidemiology, who contributed their perspectives gained from working with community members and patients who identify as transgender.…”

Do Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals Receive Adequate Gynecologic Care? An Analysis of a Rural Academic Center

“…Research shows that living in a rural setting can increase the likelihood of isolation and discrimination against the transgender population. 5 However, much of the research on the transgender population has been primarily conducted in urban areas and is very limited within rural communities. 6 There is also evidence that transgender individuals experience barriers to health care in the form of lacking equitable access to quality health insurance, are more likely to be uninsured, and have no usual source of health care when compared to the cisgender population.…”

Gender competence in medical education

“…In conclusion, despite the well‐documented gender competency training gaps in medical education, there is a dearth of inclusive TGD care curricula that promote gender competence to decrease health care disparities 4,5 . Our interdisciplinary curriculum anchored in carefully selected gender competencies was developed to train medical learners well prepared to meet societal needs.…”