Patient-reported outcomes in genital gender-affirming surgery

Area of Science:

• Gender-affirming surgery outcomes
• Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)

Background:

• Current literature on genital gender-affirming surgery (GGAS) primarily relies on surgeon-reported outcomes and nonvalidated patient-reported outcomes.
• The landscape of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in GGAS is dominated by various ad hoc questionnaires.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and narratively summarize recent articles on patient-reported outcomes in genital gender-affirming surgery (GGAS).
• To assess the current state and future directions of PROMs within the context of GGAS.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of the latest articles pertaining to patient-reported outcomes in GGAS.
• Narrative synthesis of findings from the reviewed literature.

Main Results:

• The majority of existing PROMs for GGAS are not specifically validated for the transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) community.
• One new PROM validated within the TGD community has been described in the last two years.
• There is a growing trend towards developing PROMs in collaboration with the TGD community.

Conclusions:

• Patient-reported outcome measures are crucial for understanding patient and stakeholder priorities in GGAS.
• Three new PROMs developed with and for the TGD community show promise for advancing patient-centered research.
• Continued development of validated, collaborative PROMs is essential for the progression of patient-centered research in GGAS.