Endocrine Abstracts

Background: During the last decennium, an increase in the number of persons referred to gender identity centres has been observed. Epidemiological data have not yet been formally studied in France. Here we report the experience from the Trans’Est Gender Identity Centre of the University Hospital of Nancy.

Aim: To study the number of people seeking transgender care, the age at referral and the trends in the sex ratio.

Methods: The authors reviewed retrospectively medical records of all subjects who were referred for gender dysphoria to the Department of Endocrinology of the University Hospital of Nancy from January 2002 to December 2018.

Results: 271 subjects (165 birth-assigned male) were referred to our gender identity centre from 2002 to 2018. The mean number of persons evaluated per year increased from 8.1 (2002–2013) to 37.2 (2014–2018). The median age at first assessment was significantly lower in birth-assigned females (21.7 years; range 15.1–50.9) than in birth-assigned males (31.9 years; range 15.9–61.4) (P<0.05). Seventy-three percent of persons self-identified as binary. The sex ratio of birth-assigned males to birth-assigned females decreased from 1.9 in 2002 to 0.9 in 2018 with a change in the sex ratio since 2016 in young subjects aged < 25 years, favouring birth-assigned females.

Limitations: This study is retrospective and some data could be missing. The Trans’Est Gender Identity Centre is among the largest in the Grand-Est region of France; however, these observations cannot be generalized to the whole transgender population in France.

Conclusion: Manifestation of gender dysphoria appears to be different in birth-assigned males and birth-assigned females. In concordance with the literature data, our results indicate a change in the sex ratio of young people referred for gender dysphoria, favouring birth-assigned females. The underlying reasons are not well understood and warrant further studies.