Emergency care of LGBTQIA+ patients requires more than understanding the acronym

Systematic Review, Quality Assessment, and Synthesis of Guidelines for Emergency Department Care of Transgender and Gender-diverse People: Recommendations for Immediate Action to Improve Care

Introduction

We conducted this systematic review to identify emergency department (ED) relevant recommendations in current guidelines for care of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people internationally.

Methods

Using PRISMA criteria, we did a systematic search of Ovid Medline, EMBASE, and CINAHL and a hand search of gray literature for clinical practice guidelines (CPG) or best practice statements (BPS) published until June 31, 2021. Articles were included if they were in English, included medical or paramedical care of TGD populations of any age, in any setting, region or nation, and were national or international in scope. Exclusion criteria included primary research studies, review articles, narrative reviews or otherwise non-CPG or BPS, editorials, or letters to the editor, articles of regional or individual hospital scope, non-medical articles, articles not in English, or if a more recent version of the guideline existed. Recommendations relevant to ED care were identified, recorded, and assessed for quality using the AGREE-II and AGREE-REX criteria. We performed interclass correlation coefficient for interrater reliability. Recommendations were coded for the relevant point of care while in the ED (triage, registration, rooming, investigations, etc.).

Results

We screened 1,658 unique articles, and 1,555 were excluded. Of the remaining 103 articles included, seven had recommendations relevant to care in the ED, comprising a total of 10 recommendations. Four guidelines and eight recommendations were of high quality. They included recommendations for testing, prevention, referral, and provision of post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, and culturally competent care of TGD people.

Conclusions

This is the most comprehensive review to date of guidelines and best practices statements offering recommendations for care of ED TGD patients, and several are immediately actionable. There are also many opportunities to build community-led research programs to synthesize and inform a comprehensive dedicated guideline for care of TGD people in emergency settings.

Emergency care considerations for transgender and gender diverse youth: a review to improve health trajectories

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Transgender and Gender Diverse (TGD) youth represent a growing subset of pediatric patients who are at increased risk for harmful health outcomes. Consideration of these risks during emergency encounters may decrease these undesired, sometimes fatal, adverse events.

RECENT FINDINGS

Gender affirmative care of TGD youth is considered a basic healthcare right as noted by several academic societies including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Psychological Association [1-3] ( Table 1 ). Withholding gender affirmative care can lead to undesired health outcomes including but not limited to an increased incidence of mood disorders, self-injurious behavior, suicidal ideation, sexually transmitted diseases, and delayed presentations of treatable illness. TGD youth often access acute care settings, yet many feel apprehensive due to prior negative experiences or fear of discrimination. Practitioners are also often unaware as to how to effectively provide this type of healthcare.

SUMMARY

Acute care settings provide a unique and impactful environment to provide evidence-based, gender-affirming care that can make patients feel validated, mitigate future care avoidance, and minimize negative downstream health effects. In this review, we have consolidated high yield health considerations regarding TGD youth for acute care and emergency providers to deliver optimal care for this population.