Knowledge of Transgender Health Care Not Linked to Education

MONDAY, Feb. 25, 2019 — Transphobia — not formal or informal education — predicts provider knowledge of transgender health care, according to a study recently published in Medical Education.

Daphna Stroumsa, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted an online survey to assess exposure to transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) content and knowledge of TGD health care among 223 primary care providers in an integrated health care system in the Midwestern United States.

The researchers found a mean knowledge score of 7.41 on a 10-point scale. Nearly half of respondents (48.4 percent) had no formal education on TGD health care, although half (49.7 percent) of providers reported previously caring for at least one transgender patient. Provider knowledge of TGD health care was associated with transphobia but not with hours of formal education or informal education.

“Increasing hours of education related to TGD health care may not be sufficient to improve providers’ competence in care for TGD individuals,” the authors write. “Transphobia may be a barrier to learning that needs to be addressed.”

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Posted: February 2019

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