Enabling Tool for Innovative Glass Applications - Final Report

Prevalence and Co-occurrence of Alcohol, Nicotine, and Other Substance Use Disorder Diagnoses Among US Transgender and Cisgender Adults

“…Moreover, only diagnosed SUDs were assessed. Given that lack of insurance is a barrier to accessing care and receiving an SUDD and transgender individuals are more likely than the US general population to be uninsured and face numerous stigma-related barriers to health care engagement, the SUDDs documented here are likely underestimates of the true burden of SUDD in the US transgender population. Additionally, the OLDW does not include self-reported beneficiary-level data on race; therefore, we were unable to explore racial differences in SUDDs.…”

“…Thus, the gender-stratified, transgender subanalysis is only representative of transgender individuals who have accessed gender-affirming hormones or surgery. Notably, across community-based studies, nonbinary individuals have comprised 35% to 42% of transgender samples and many nonbinary individuals do not use gender-affirming hormones or procedures; thus, it is likely that most individuals who were excluded from our gender-stratified analyses were nonbinary people who had not accessed hormones or surgery. Furthermore, research finds that TF people are less likely to receive various forms of gender-affirming services than TM people and nonreceipt of gender-affirming care is associated with substance use .…”

“…Transgender people, whose gender identity differs from their assigned birth sex and who may access hormones or surgery to align their physical gender expression with their gender identity, are at risk of substance abuse and dependence . Research suggests that substance misuse and related disorders are in part associated with some transgender people’s reliance on substances to cope with the psychological toll of discrimination .…”

“…Research suggests that substance misuse and related disorders are in part associated with some transgender people’s reliance on substances to cope with the psychological toll of discrimination . While research has captured the burden of substance misuse among transgender people, estimates of substance use disorder (SUD) are limited and vary considerably (ie, 3.9% to 47.2%) depending on the sample and SUD type …”

Association of Nondiscrimination Policies With Mental Health Among Gender Minority Individuals

“…Despite these medical guidelines, many US insurers categorically exclude coverage of gender-affirming health care services . Such exclusions have health implications for gender minority patients and compound existing barriers to care, including limited availability of clinicians to provide gender-affirming services and frequent experiences of discrimination during interactions with the health care system . These barriers to care are particularly salient given notable mental health disparities: 40% of gender minority individuals have attempted suicide in their lifetime compared with less than 5% in the general population .…”