Community Health Care Utilization Patterns in Transgender Individuals Who Have Been Incarcerated

Transgender individuals experience higher risk of incarceration and chronic disease than cisgender individuals. Both transgender and previously incarcerated individuals can face barriers to accessing health care in the community. This study aims to investigate differences in health care utilization in the community between transgender and cisgender individuals who have been incarcerated. We evaluated emergency department (ED), urgent care, and primary care visit data for individuals incarcerated in Santa Clara County jails over a 3-year period. Among the study population, 0.57% were identified as transgender. Transgender individuals utilized all health care services at higher rates than their cisgender counterparts, including ED visits (50.2% vs. 30.7%, respectively). Of transgender individuals, 28.9% accessed locations that offer gender-affirming primary care and accessed these locations more frequently than cisgender individuals.