Article Figures & Data
Tables
- Table 1
Clinician Characteristics, Exposure to Transgender Individuals, Barriers and Facilitators Related to Caring for Transgender Patients, and Willingness to Provide Care (N = 140)
Clinician characteristics n (%) Age (mean, SD) 39.7 (13.4) Sex Male 58 (41.4) Female 82 (58.6) Continent of origin North America/Caribbean 91 (65.5) Other 48 (34.5) Political views Liberal 66 (47.1) Moderate 51 (36.4) Conservative 23 (16.4) Specialty Internal medicine 97 (69.3) Family medicine 43 (30.7) Clinician type Resident 73 (52.1) Advanced practitioner 3 (2.1) Attending physician 64 (45.7) Exposure Ever met a transgender person Yes 106 (75.7) No 34 (24.3) Treated transgender patient in past 5 years Yes 75 (53.6) No 65 (46.4) Empathy (mean, SD)a 5.4 (1.5) Transphobia (mean, SD)a 3.2 (1.1) Barriers and Facilitators Lack of training on transgender healthb Yes 67 (47.9) No 73 (52.1) Lack of exposure to transgender patients Yes 52 (37.1) No 88 (62.9) Lack of knowledge about transgender care among staffb Yes 45 (32.1) No 95 (67.9) Lack of familiarity with transition care guidelinesb Yes 73 (52.1) No 67 (47.9) Capable of providing routine care to transgender patientsb Yes 96 (68.6) No 44 (31.4) Willingness to provide care Willing to provide routine care for transgender patientsb 120 (85.7) Willing to provide Pap tests for transgender menb 104 (78.6) - Table 2
Factors Associated With Primary Care Clinicians’ Willingness to Provide Routine Care for Transgender Patients and Pap Tests for Transgender Men (N = 140)
Routine Care for Transgender Patients Pap Test for Transgender Men No. (%) P Value No. (%) P Value Clinician characteristics Age (mean, SD) .042 .246 Willing 38.7 (13.2) 39.0 (13.4) Not willing 45.3 (13.5) 42.2 (13.3) Sex .262 .511 Male 89.7 75.9 Female 82.9 80.5 Continent of origin .002 .044 North America/Caribbean 92.3 83.5 Other 72.9 68.8 Political views .379 .101 Liberal 89.4 86.4 Moderate 80.4 72.5 Conservative 87.0 69.6 Specialty .940 .020 Internal medicine 85.6 73.2 Family medicine 86.0 90.7 Clinician type .156 .165 Resident 90.4 83.6 Advanced practitioner 100.0 100.0 Attending MD 79.7 71.9 Exposure Ever met a transgender person .020 <.001 Yes 89.6 85.8 No 73.5 55.9 Transgender patient in past 5 years .022 .012 Yes 92.0 86.7 No 78.5 69.2 Barriers & facilitators Empathy (mean, SD) .035 .083 Willing 5.5 (1.4) 5.5 (1.3) Not willing 4.8 (1.6) 4.9 (1.8) Transphobia (mean, SD) .007 <.001 Willing 3.1 (1.0) 3.0 (1.0) Not willing 3.8 (1.3) 3.8 (1.1) Lack of training on transgender health .240 .006 Yes 82.1 68.7 No 89.0 87.7 Lack of exposure to transgender patients .022 .013 Yes 76.9 67.3 No 90.9 85.2 Lack of knowledge about transgender .018 .018 care among staff Yes 75.6 66.7 No 90.5 84.2 Lack of familiarity with guidelines .782 .027 Yes 84.9 71.2 No 86.6 86.6 Capable of providing routine care <.001 .043 Yes 99.0 83.3 No 56.8 68.2 Pap = Papanicoulou.
Additional Files
Supplemental Appendix
Supplemental Appendix
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The Article in Brief
Primary Care Clinicians' Willingness to Care for Transgender Patients
Deirdre A. Shires , and colleagues
Background Transgender patients report negative experiences in health care settings, but little is known about clinicians' willingness to care for them. This study surveyed primary care clinicians in an integrated Midwest health system.
What This Study Found Most, but not all, family medicine and general internal medicine clinicians are willing to provide routine care for transgender patients. The survey of 308 primary care clinicians found that 86 percent of respondents (n = 140) were willing to provide routine care to transgender patients and 79 percent were willing to provide Pap tests to transgender men. Willingness to provide routine care decreased with age. Willingness to provide Pap tests was higher among family physicians, those who had met a transgender person, and those who measured lower on a transphobia scale.
Implications
- These findings, according to the authors, underscore the importance of integrating personal exposure to transgender individuals into medical education.