Health literacy of trans and gender diverse individuals –a cross sectional survey in Germany

Abstract

IntroductionTo date, there has been little research on the general health literacy of trans and gender diverse individuals, even though previous research undermines the importance of good health literacy in this sample. The aim of the article is therefore to describe the general health literacy of trans and gender diverse individuals based on a German survey.MethodsIn September 2022, a survey study was conducted in which health literacy was recorded using HLS-EU-16. Data will be presented descriptively; gender differences will be explored using a Χ2- test and a univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA).ResultsOut of N = 223 participants, n = 129 individuals (57.8%) identified as non-binary; n = 49 (22.0%) identified themselves as male, while n = 45 (20.2%) identified as female. Mean age was 28.03 years. Overall, 26.4% of all the participants showed an inadequate health literacy, as proposed by the HLS-EU-16. In trend, health-related task related to media use were more often perceived as easy compared to the German general population.ConclusionIndividuals, who identify as trans and gender diverse may have a general health literacy below average compared to the German general population. However, tasks related to media use were perceived as easy, which might be a good starting point for health literacy related interventions.Trial registrationDRKS00026249, Date of registration: 15/03/2022.