Impacto da hormonização na saúde mental da população transgênero de um ambulatório em Sergipe

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Transgender people are those who experience a mismatch between their gender identity and the biological sex assigned to them at birth. As a result of the social context of constant psychological stress and vulnerability, higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide are observed in the transgender population when compared to the cisgender population. On the other hand, several studies associate hormone therapy with better outcomes in psychological, social, familiar, and sexual domains within this population. OBJECTIVE: To describe epidemiologically and to determine the prevalence of depression and anxiety in the transgender population of a Trans outpatient clinic in Sergipe, before and after the hormone therapy process. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Descriptive cross-sectional study carried out at the Trans Outpatient Clinic in the city of Lagarto-SE, using sociodemographic questionnaires authored by the researchers and two scales validated in the public domain for self-assessment of depressive (HAM-D) and anxiety (HADS) symptoms. The population consisted of users over 18 years or older who was attended at the Trans Outpatient Clinic. Data obtained were analyzed using the Student’s t-test to compare scale results and the chi-square test of independence to investigate factors associated with hormone use. RESULTS: A total of 50 individuals were interviewed. Of these, 25 used hormones as a method of gender affirmation and 25 did not. 66% (n=33) were between 18–28 years old, 58% (n=29) were female, 64% (n=32) had an income of up to one minimum wage, 46% (n=23) self-identified as pardos(as), 58% (n=29) denied the use of legal or illegal substances, 64% (n=32) used continuous medication, 58% (n=29) had a psychiatric diagnosis, and 80% were undergoing psychotherapeutic follow-up. Statistical analysis revealed no statistically significant differences in anxiety (HADS; p=0.214) or depressive (HAM-D; p=0.797) symptom scores before and after hormone therapy. In the comparative evaluation of variables, only the presence of a previous psychiatric diagnosis showed a significant increase after hormone therapy (p=0.021). CONCLUSION: This research contributes to strengthening the scarce Brazilian literature on this topic. The findings of this study highlight the complexity of the relationships between mental health and hormone therapy as a process of gender affirmation in the transgender population, being the first to investigate this association in a national context. Although no statistically significant differences were observed in the scales between groups with and without hormone use, a high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms was identified in both, reinforcing the psychosocial vulnerability of this population.