Telehealth Versus In-Person Injection Instruction for Adolescents and Young Adults Initiating Gender-Affirming...

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology
• Gender-affirming care
• Medical education

Background:

• Access to gender-affirming care is crucial for adolescents and young adults (AYA).
• Testosterone therapy requires proper injection technique education.
• Telehealth offers a potential solution to increase access to care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the clinical acceptability of testosterone injection teaching between in-person and telehealth methods.
• To evaluate testosterone levels, time to treatment, and post-instructional issues in AYA initiating gender-affirming testosterone therapy.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of 278 AYA receiving testosterone therapy.
• Comparison of in-person versus telehealth injection teaching.
• Analysis of clinical effectiveness, time to treatment, and post-instruction contacts.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in testosterone levels at 3 and 6 months between groups (p = 0.768 and p = 0.350).
• Comparable time to treatment initiation (15.34 days in-person vs. 18.02 days telehealth, p = 0.204).
• Slightly higher post-instruction contacts in telehealth group (2.87 vs. 2.42, p = 0.040), with rare injection-related questions.

Conclusions:

• Telehealth injection instruction is clinically effective and acceptable for AYA initiating gender-affirming testosterone therapy.
• Findings support the continued use of telehealth to improve access to gender-affirming care.
• Telehealth is a viable alternative to in-person teaching for testosterone injection education.