The Assessment of Reliability and Validity of Utrecht Gender Dysphoria Scale-Thai Version as a Screening Tool for Gender Dysphoria in Thai Transgender Women

Abstract

Background: Gender dysphoria is a psychological distress caused by the incongruence between gender assigned at birth and gender characteristic. This condition is an indication for cross-sex hormone or sex-reassignment surgery. To date, there is no available tool to assess gender dysphoria in Thai language. Objective: To translate male-to-female Utrecht gender dysphoria scale (UGDS-MTF) into Thai language to create a credible UGDS-MTF-Thai version. Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study in a community base setting. The process of the translation included forward translation, backward translation, and revision with a permission of the original author. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire was analyzed. Results: Fifty natal males were included in the study, which included 25 transwomen [TGW] and 25 men who had sex with men [MSM]. The average sum score of UGDS-MTF-Thai in TGW was significantly higher than those of MSM at 47.5 and 25.9, respectively. The overall index of item-objective congruence (IOC) was 0.87 and the overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0.97. The sensitivity and specificity of the test was 92% and 96%, when the cut point was set at 40. Conclusion: UGDS-MTF-Thai is a reliable tool to assess gender dysphoria in Thai natal males with gender variations. The scale provides good sensitivity and specificity in detecting gender dysphoria. According to the simplicity of the UGDS-MTF-Thai-scale, it is applicable for both epidemiologic study and in clinical use. Keywords: Gender dysphoria, Transgender, Transwomen, Utrecht gender dysphoria score, Gender dysphoria measurement