The effects of cross-gender hormones on the quality of life of transgender individuals: a systematic review protocol.

Abstract

REVIEW QUESTION / OBJECTIVE What are the effects of cross-gender hormone treatment on the quality of life of transgender persons? INCLUSION CRITERIA Types of participants This review will consider studies whose intervention group(s) include transgender women, (male-to-female transgender individuals) and transmen (female-to-male transgender individuals), as well as people who do not identify with the gender binary on cross-gender hormones. There will be no age limitations on the study participants. Types of intervention(s) and comparators The review will include studies that evaluate cross-gender hormone treatment (or administration). Any study examining the effects of cross gender hormones will be considered, regardless of the length of time of the hormone treatment, variety of cross-gender hormones used, and level of the dosage. The control group(s) will include individuals who identity as transgender who do not use hormones. Types of outcomes The outcome is quality of life (all domains including but not limited to social distress, anxiety and depression) measured using any psychometric tool. These tools include specific quality of life tools such as the SF-36, WHOQOL-BREF, SWLS, SHS and SQUALA. Other tools that investigate depression, anxiety, mood and self-esteem that are equivalent to the various domains of quality of life will also be considered. These tools include the Social Self-Esteem Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Global Assessment of Functioning, the Social Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Spielberger’s Trait Anxiety and the State-Trait Personality Inventory.