Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Gender-Affirming Surgery

Manraj Kaur; Shane Morrison; Andrea Pusic; Anne Klassen

doi:10.1001/amajethics.2023.421

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Gender-Affirming Surgery

AMA J Ethics. 2023 Jun 1;25(6):E421-430. doi: 10.1001/amajethics.2023.421.

Authors

Manraj Kaur¹, Shane Morrison², Andrea Pusic³, Anne Klassen⁴

Affiliations

¹ Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded fellow at the Patient-Reported Outcomes, Value, and Experience Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
² Assistant professor of plastic and gender affirmation surgery at Seattle Children's Hospital and the University of Washington Medical Center.
³ Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the director of the Patient-Reported Outcomes, Value, and Experience Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
⁴ Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 37285296
DOI: 10.1001/amajethics.2023.421

Abstract

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are questionnaires that assess how patients feel and function. PROMs should be developed and validated using a mixed methods, multistep approach with extensive patient input to ensure that they are easy to understand, comprehensive, and relevant. PROMs that are specific to gender-affirming care (including surgery), such as the GENDER-Q, can be used to educate patients, align patients' goals and preferences with realistic expectations about the surgical procedures' purposes and outcomes, and conduct comparative effectiveness research. PROM data can contribute to evidence-based, shared decision making and just access to gender-affirming surgical care.

MeSH terms

Patient Reported Outcome Measures*
Quality of Life
Sex Reassignment Surgery*
Transgender Persons