People who undergo Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy have high grades of satisfaction with the physical and psychological effects – and have fewer suicidal thoughts
Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT) is a process and treatment for those with gender dysphoria, which can help people live the way they want to, in their preferred gender identity or as non-binary. This generally means altering a person’s hormone levels to match their gender identity.
The researchers, Dr. Miguel Saraiva and team at the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Porto – Hospital de Santo António, aimed to understand to what degree this type of therapy impacts the lives of those affected.
“The well-being of transgender patients is very important, and we are happy to document the very positive result of Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy on the Portuguese transgender population.”
They found that those who do undergo this process, report high grades of satisfaction with both the physical and psychological effects.
Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are often factors of GAHT
They began collecting data through a cross-sectional study in March 2021, via an online questionnaire which was distributed to adults living in Portugal who had undergone GAHT for at least one year. The questionnaire used an ordinal scale ranging from 0 (worst result) to 6 (best result).
With a median age of 25 years, 142 people completed the questionnaire: 101 for masculinising GAHT and 41 for feminising GAHT. The overall satisfaction with GAHT was rated at 5.0 points on a scale of 6.0.
The high score was consistent across several metrics and shows that GAHT positively influences self-esteem, wellbeing, and social/familial relationships in the Portuguese adult transgender population.
GAHT positively influences self-esteem and well-being
The results of the questionnaire and of Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy demonstrate positive factors like reductions in suicidal ideation – which directly impacted the quality of life of the people who benefit from it, making them enjoy life more and have better wellbeing.
Dr Saraiva said: “The well-being of transgender patients is very important, and we are happy to document the very positive result of Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy on the Portuguese transgender population.”
