Study finds that the attempted-suicide rate among transgender women who received a vaginoplasty in California was twice as high during the period after the surgery compared with the period before the surgery.
The investigaotrs analyzed data on all 868 people who received a vaginoplasty and 357 people who received a phalloplasty in California from 2012-2018. There were an average of 2 years of data before and after surgery.
A total of 22% of the vaginoplasty group and 21% of the phalloplasty group had at least one ER or in-patient psych encounter during the study period, whether before or after surgery.
If there was a psych encounter prior to surgery, 34% of the vaginoplasty group and 27% of the phalloplasty group had a psych encounter after surgery.
Among those receiving a vaginoplasty, the rate of suicide attempts was twice as high after the surgery, at 3.3%, compared with before, at 1.5%.
The phalloplasty suicide-attempt rate was similar to the general population, while the vaginoplasty group’s rate was more than twice as high as the general population.
“Patients undergoing [gender-affirming surgery] with a history of prior psychiatric emergences or feminizing transition are at higher risk and should be counseled appropriately,” the study authors concluded.
Study finds that the attempted-suicide rate among transgender women who received a vaginoplasty in California was twice as high during the period after the surgery compared with the period before the surgery.
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) March 11, 2024
The investigaotrs analyzed data on all 868 people who received a… pic.twitter.com/RO6zKC7Xt3