"I Think There's Only Two Fields for That": Hospital Registrar Attitudes and Practices for Collecting Patient Gender Identity Data

Shivani Mehta; Alex Waad; Madeline Brooks; Scott D Siegel

doi:10.1089/trgh.2021.0083

"I Think There's Only Two Fields for That": Hospital Registrar Attitudes and Practices for Collecting Patient Gender Identity Data

Transgend Health. 2023 Jul 28;8(4):400-403. doi: 10.1089/trgh.2021.0083. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Shivani Mehta¹, Alex Waad², Madeline Brooks³, Scott D Siegel³

Affiliations

¹ College of Arts and Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.
² Office of Health Equity, ChristianaCare, Newark, Delaware, USA.
³ iREACH-Institute for Research on Equity and Community Health, ChristianaCare, Newark, Delaware, USA.

PMID: 37525840
PMCID: PMC10387148 (available on 2024-07-28)
DOI: 10.1089/trgh.2021.0083

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to understand the experiences of hospital registrars in collecting gender identity data.

Methods: A qualitative study that thematically analyzed key informant interviews with 37 registrars regarding their attitudes and practices in collecting gender identity data.

Results: Collection of gender identity is influenced by (1) system-level barriers, (2) discrepancies in source of truth for documentation, and (3) registrars' underlying attitudes and behaviors.

Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that person- and system-level barriers can interfere with the accurate and respectful collection of gender identity data, which is critical for tracking and addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer health disparities.

Keywords: attitudes; electronic health record; gender identity; qualitative.