Quality of life after gender reassignment surgery in transwomen

ABSTRACT

Background: Gender dysphoria is a condition in which there is discrepancy between a person's gender identity and that person's sex assigned at birth. Gender reassignment surgery (GRS) has an important role in alleviating the distress caused by gender dysphoria and it is medically necessary. The literature on quality of life (QoL) of transgenders post-GRS is limited in India.Methods: This is a prospective study on transgender women who volunteered to undergo male to female (MtF) GRS from March 2015 to August 2017. The demographic details and the surgical complications were registered. The Quality of life using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was measured both before and a year after the surgery. The data were compared and presented.Results: A total of 62 GRS were performed during the study period. In that, 43 patients are literate (69.35%) and only 31.93% are employed in a socially respectable position. Our study shows significant improvement in physical, psychological and social health domains after the Surgery. Highest improvement was observed in the psychological health domain. There were no major complications observed in our study group.Conclusions: The surgical management improved the QOL in the first three domains of WHOQOL-BREF instrument namely physical health, psychological health and social relationship. Among these three domains, there is a significant improvement in psychological health. Hence, GRS has an important role in relieving the psychological distress caused by gender dysphoria and significantly improves the quality of life postoperatively.