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Pelvic Floor Dysfunction in Transgender Men on Gender-affirming Hormone Therapy: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

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Abstract

Introduction and Hypothesis

The objective of this research is to explore the effects of hormone therapy using testosterone on pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) in transgender men. We hypothesize that PFD might be prevalent among transgender men undergoing hormone therapy. Therefore, this study was aimed at verifying the frequency of these dysfunctions.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2022 and March 2023 using an online questionnaire, which included transgender men over 18 years old who underwent gender-affirming hormone therapy. Volunteers with neurological disease, previous urogynecology surgery, active urinary tract infection, and individuals without access to the internet were excluded. The questionnaire employed validated tools to assess urinary symptoms, such as urinary incontinence (UI), as well as sexual dysfunction, anorectal symptoms, and constipation. The data were analyzed descriptively and presented as frequencies and prevalence ratios with their respective confidence intervals (95% CI), mean, and standard deviation.

Results

A total of 68 transgender men were included. Most participants had storage symptoms (69.1%), sexual dysfunction (52.9%), anorectal symptoms (45.6%), and flatal incontinence (39.7%). Participants with UI symptoms reported moderate severity of the condition.

Conclusions

Transgender men on hormone therapy have a high incidence of PFD (94.1%) and experience a greater occurrence of urinary symptoms (86.7%).

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Data Availability

We declare that the data is available to the journal if necessary.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE, Brazil

    Lyvia Maria Bezerra da Silva

  2. Physical Therapy Postgraduate Program Student, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE, Brazil

    Silvana Neves Dias Freire

  3. Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Human Anatomy Sector of the Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Maceió, AL, Brazil

    Eduarda Moretti

  4. Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) PhD in Child and Adolescent Healthcare, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil

    Leila Barbosa

  5. Physical Therapy Department, Av Prof. Moraes Rego, 1235. Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, CEP: 50670-901, Brazil

    Leila Barbosa

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  1. Lyvia Maria Bezerra da Silva
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  2. Silvana Neves Dias Freire
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  3. Eduarda Moretti
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  4. Leila Barbosa
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Contributions

L.M.B. da Silva: project development, data collection, manuscript writing; S.N.D. Freire: project development, data collection, manuscript writing; E. Moretti: project development, data collection, manuscript writing; L. Barbosa: project development, data collection, manuscript writing.

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Correspondence to Leila Barbosa.

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da Silva, L.M.B., Freire, S.N.D., Moretti, E. et al. Pelvic Floor Dysfunction in Transgender Men on Gender-affirming Hormone Therapy: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study. Int Urogynecol J (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-024-05779-3

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