Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The number of transgender men and women who seek gender-affirming therapy is rapidly increasing worldwide. It is still a population at high risk for several morbidities. The Basque Country Gender Identity Clinic was created in 2009 to centralize their medical care in the region.

Aim: To determine the proportion of transgender individuals in the Basque Country, the prevalence of several morbidities in this transgender population, their evolution, and their trends since 2009.

Methods: Cross-sectional study. We selected all transgender men and women who requested therapy at our clinic and registered their demographic and clinical data. We compared the population who was first attended in the years 2009-2014 vs those first attended in 2015-2020. We compared the prevalence of several diseases between the transgender population and the Basque general population as recorded in public registries.

Results: The proportion of transgender people in the Basque Country is 2.4 per 10.000. Transgender men consume more psychoactive drugs than the general male population (9.9% vs 5.0%, P=0.001), while transgender women have a higher prevalence of smoking (31.5% vs 21.3%, P=0.001), a higher prevalence of HIV infection (3.4% vs 0.003%, P=0.001) and lower bone mass density (lumbar Z-score -0.87 SD, femoral neck Z-score -0.44 SD) than the general female population. Transgender individuals first attended between 2015-2020 were younger (28 vs 17 years, P=0.001), had a higher academic level (secondary education or higher in 85.5% vs 37.5%, P=0.001) and consume less anxiolytics than those first attended the precedent years (2009-2014).

Conclusions: The proportion of transgender people in the Basque Country is 2.4 per 10.000. Transgender population in the Basque Country is at risk for several morbidities. Individuals who have sought gender-affirming therapy between 2015-2020 have a better profile at baseline (younger age, higher academic level, and less psychoactive drugs use) than those first attended between 2009-2014, which likely reflects the positive changes that have taken place in our area regarding integration and improved medical care to this population.