Usability of Virtual Visits for the Routine Clinical Care of Trans Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Youth and Caregiver Perspectives

Abstract

We evaluated families’ perspectives on the usability of virtual visits for routine gender care for trans youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey, which included a validated telehealth usability questionnaire, was sent to families who had a virtual Gender Clinic visit between March and August 2020. A total of 87 participants completed the survey (28 trans youth, 59 caregivers). Overall, usability was rated highly, with mean scores between “quite a bit” and “completely” in all categories (usefulness, ease of use, interface and interaction quality, reliability, and satisfaction). Caregivers reported higher usability scores compared to trans youth [mean (SD) 3.43 (0.80) vs. 3.12 (0.93), p = 0.01]. All families felt that virtual visits provided for their healthcare needs. A total of 100% of youth and caregivers described virtual appointments as safer or as safe as in-person visits. A total of 94% of participants would like virtual visits after the pandemic; families would choose a mean of two virtual and one yearly in-person visit with a multidisciplinary team. Overall, virtual gender visits for trans youth had impressive usability. Participants perceived virtual visits to be safe. For the future, a combination of virtual and in-person multidisciplinary visits is the most desired model.

Need for Inclusive Consideration of Transgender and Gender Diverse People in E-Health Services: A Systematic Review

“…Five studies focused on mental health. These include the Canadian non-randomized study project AFFIRM online, which tested cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) online groups in depression, coping, stress appraisal, and hope with a sample of 96 LGBTQIA+ people (of whom 67.71% were TGD, with a mean age of 21.12 in the intervention group and 23.42 in the control group) [62]. In the US Singularities role play, a two-arm non-blinded pilot RCT, intervention participants played the superhuman Singular-a specially gifted character in a school overcoming challenges-and had access to a resource list for bullying, violence, and mental health, among other issues (sample of 240, of whom 47.08% were TGD with a mean age of 15.77) [63].…”

“…Specifically, in the pandemic, TGD people are heavily burdened by mental health deterioration, restrictions, and limited access to medical care and low-threshold services (e.g., TGD support groups) and could benefit from e-health services [93,94]. In consequence, we anticipate that more e-health studies will follow in this regard in the near future [95,96]. Additionally, given excluded study protocols in this review for which published data were not available, updating the assessments of our systematic review is recommended in future papers.…”

The Impact of Technology on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Needs

“…In the United States, SRH telehealth interventions were found to increase self-efficacy with condom use [ 2 ] and were found feasible for screening for sexually transmitted infections [ 3 ]. With a focus on subgroups of adolescents, mHealth interventions targeted homeless adolescents [ 4 ], trans youth [ 5 , 6 , 7 ], and justice-involved youth [ 8 ]. This underscored the importance of mHealth interventions because numerous homeless and LGBTQ+ youth own a mobile phone, and many reported mental health issues, substance abuse, eating disorders, homelessness, risky sexual behaviors, and victimization during the pandemic.…”