Experiences of trans patients in primary care settings: findings from The OutLook Study.

BACKGROUND: Relationships between primary care providers (PCP) and trans patients remain important, necessitating discussions about gender identity, health and their intersections. METHODS: Using an online survey, we explored socio-demographic and psycho-social factors associated with: (1) disclosing gender identity; (2) discussing gender identity-related health issues; and (3) comfort sharing gender identity with PCPs, among trans people (n =112) over 16years of age, sampled in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Bivariate and multivariate methods using modified Poisson regression generated effect estimates. RESULTS: Age, birth presumed gender, employment status, family support, and transphobia were significantly associated with disclosing gender identity, discussing gender identity-related health issues, and comfortability sharing gender identity with PCPs. CONCLUSION: Increasing PCPs' knowledge of trans-related health issues is stressed to improve access and quality for trans patients.

The relationship between white matter fiber damage and gray matter perfusion in large-scale functionally defined networks in multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies utilizing perfusion as a surrogate of cortical integrity show promise for overall cognition, but the association between white matter (WM) damage and gray matter (GM) integrity in specific functional networks is not previously studied. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between WM fiber integrity and GM node perfusion within six functional networks of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) patients. METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neurocognitive testing were performed on 19 healthy controls (HC), 39 RRMS, and 45 SPMS patients. WM damage extent and severity were quantified with T2-hyper/T1-hypointense (T2h/T1h) lesion volume and degree of perfusion reduction in lesional and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM), respectively. A two-step linear regression corrected for confounders was employed. RESULTS: Cognitive impairment was present in 20/39 (51%) RRMS and 25/45 (53%) SPMS patients. GM node perfusion was associated with WM fiber damage severity (WM hypoperfusion) within each network-including both NAWM ( R2 = 0.67-0.89, p < 0.0001) and T2h ( R2 = 0.39-0.62, p < 0.0001) WM regions-but was not significantly associated ( p > 0.01) with WM fiber damage extent (i.e. T2h/T1h lesion volumes). CONCLUSION: Overall, GM node perfusion was associated with severity rather than extent of WM network damage, supporting a primary etiology of GM hypoperfusion.