Stressors in health care and their association to symptoms experienced by gender diverse people

ObjectivesMany individuals whose gender does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth (gender diverse [GD] people) report stressful health care encounters. We examined the relationship of these stressors to symptoms of emotional distress and impaired physical functioning among GD people.Study designThis study was conducted using a cross-sectional design with data from the 2015 United States Transgender Survey.MethodsComposite metrics of health care stressors and physical impairments were developed, and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-6) provided a measure of emotional distress. Linear and logistic regression were used to analyze the aims.ResultsA total of 22,705 participants from diverse gender identity subgroups were included. Participants who experienced at least one stressor in health care during the past 12 months had more symptoms of emotional distress (β=0.14, P&nbsp