Providing Gender-Affirmative Care During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Pandemic Era: Experiences and Perspectives from Pediatric Endocrinologists in the United States

Janet Y Lee; Toni Eimicke; Jennifer L Rehm; Kara J Connelly; Stephanie A Roberts

doi:10.1089/trgh.2020.0151

Providing Gender-Affirmative Care During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Pandemic Era: Experiences and Perspectives from Pediatric Endocrinologists in the United States

Transgend Health. 2022 Apr 11;7(2):170-174. doi: 10.1089/trgh.2020.0151. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Authors

Janet Y Lee¹, Toni Eimicke², Jennifer L Rehm³, Kara J Connelly⁴, Stephanie A Roberts⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Pediatrics and of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
² Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and The Gender Clinic, Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine, USA.
³ Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
⁴ Division of Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
⁵ Division of Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Abstract

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth are at risk of worsened health disparities during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Health care delivery by pediatric endocrinologists, including rapid implementation of telemedicine services, during the pandemic has not been documented. The Pediatric Endocrine Society's Transgender Health Special Interest Group met virtually to survey practice patterns during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The majority of pediatric endocrinologists continued to provide most aspects of medical transition; however, we also identified several barriers to care. Overall, the survey results demonstrated that telemedicine can be utilized as an effective way to provide gender-affirming medical care to TGD youth.

Keywords: endocrinologists; gender-affirmative care; pandemic; pediatrics; transgender.

Abstract

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