Corrigendum: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of people with Gender Dysphoria.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.878348.].

A speech therapy for transgender women: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: We systematically reviewed the literature and performed a meta-analysis on the effects of speech therapy and phonosurgery, for transgender women, in relation to the fundamental frequency gain of the voice, regarding the type of vocal sample collected, and we compared the effectiveness of the treatments. In addition, the study design, year, country, types of techniques used, total therapy time, and vocal assessment protocols were analyzed. METHODS: We searched the PubMed, Lilacs, and SciELO databases for observational studies and clinical trials, published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish, between January 2010 and January 2023. The selection of studies was carried out according to Prisma 2020. The quality of selected studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. RESULTS: Of 493 studies, 31 were deemed potentially eligible and retrieved for full-text review and 16 were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Six studies performed speech therapy and ten studies phonosurgery. The speech therapy time did not influence the post-treatment gain in voice fundamental frequency (p = 0.6254). The type of sample collected significantly influenced the post-treatment voice frequency gain (p < 0.01). When the vocal sample was collected through vowel (p < 0.01) and reading (p < 0.01), the gain was significantly more heterogeneous between the different types of treatment. Phonosurgery is significantly more effective in terms of fundamental frequency gain compared to speech therapy alone, regardless of the type of sample collected (p < 0.01). The average gain of fundamental frequency after speech therapy, in the /a/ vowel sample, was 27 Hz, 39.05 Hz in reading, and 25.42 Hz in spontaneous speech. In phonosurgery, there was a gain of 71.68 Hz for the vowel /a/, 41.07 Hz in reading, and 39.09 Hz in spontaneous speech. The study with the highest gain (110 Hz) collected vowels, and the study with the lowest gain (15 Hz), spontaneous speech. The major of the included studies received a score between 4 and 8 on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. CONCLUSION: The type of vocal sample collected influences the gain result of the fundamental frequency after treatment. Speech therapy and phonosurgery increased the fundamental frequency and improved female voice perception and vocal satisfaction. However, phonosurgery yielded a greater fundamental frequency gain in the different samples collected. The study protocol was registered at Prospero (CRD42017078446).

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Lives of People With Gender Dysphoria.

Objective: To analyze the impact on the psychological and social aspects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria (GD). Methods: Google Forms inventory was sent via WhatsApp, including qualitative and quantitative questions evaluating three life dimensions denominated as Sociodemographic, Economic, and COVID-19 pandemic. It was applied in two periods: At the beginning of the pandemic (June-2020) (P1) and one year later (June-2021) (P2). The inventory also included questions about economic dimensions before the pandemic for individual comparison purposes (P0). 48 individuals (28 transsexual women, 20 transsexual men) participated in both periods. Results: 77.1% (n = 37) lived in Rio Grande do Sul, 50.0% (n = 24) refereed incomplete high school; Monthly Income increased significantly between the periods (P0) and (P1). Emergence aid approval was significantly higher in (P2), 56.3% (n = 27), compared to (P1), 39.6% (n = 19). A statistically significant difference was detected in the feeling of depression in the (P2) among the cases that requested Emergency Aid. Conclusion: The studied population presented deterioration regarding their condition of social vulnerability in relation to formal employment, access to health services, and mental health.

Use of the House-Tree-Person Projective Drawings and Parental Styles Inventory in the Global Psychological Evaluation of Transgender Youth Who Seek Healthcare at the Gender Identity Program.

The present study explores data collected in the psychological evaluation of transgender youth and their families who seek healthcare at the Gender Identity Program. Great psychosocial changes mark the transition from infancy to adulthood. Transgender youth may have these aspects of their developmental stage potentialized. A study was conducted with 23 transgender youth (mean age = 14 ± 2.38 years) and their caregivers. Eleven of the youngsters were assigned male at birth, while 12 were assigned female. The research protocol consisted of a survey and systematization of the data collected in the initial global psychological evaluation performed at the healthcare facility, including house-tree-person (HTP) projective drawings and the parental styles inventory. The present study aimed to explore the data collected during the psychological evaluation of youngsters diagnosed with gender incongruence, relating the HTP projective drawing technique to parental styles and gender trajectories. The results indicate two key points. One evidenced that parental styles could be either preventive or risk components in maintaining adequate socialization in these young people but not in affecting the level of gender dysphoria. The other was that coherence is introduced in the person's perception of his or her projected self-image and his or her expressed gender as he/she becomes more comfortable in expressing his/her gender identity. Treating youngsters inherently brings ethical issues to clinical practice. Thus, global psychological evaluation tailored to this population is a fundamental resource that the psychology professional can use in consultations with youngsters because this tool brings a global understanding about the natural development cycle, facilitating the formulation of therapeutic conducts and exchanges within interdisciplinary transgender health care teams.

A Retrospective Review of Medical Records of Laboratory-Tested Sexually Transmitted Infections of Transsexual Men from Southern Brazil.

The present study assessed the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in 90 transsexual men (female-to-male transsexual persons) from southern Brazil. A retrospective review of the medical records of all transsexual men who visited an outpatient clinic in Rio Grande do Sul from 1998 to 2017 was performed. Although the sample had a high prevalence of risk factors for contracting STIs, such as drug use, one-third of the participants had never been tested for STIs and, when screened, it was mostly for HIV, but not for syphilis or other STIs. Based only on laboratory-tested transsexual men, the prevalence of syphilis and hepatitis C was 3.4% and 1.6%, respectively, which is higher than the general population. It is clear that health professionals need to broaden their understanding of transsexual men, acknowledging STIs as a possible diagnosis.

Childhood Maltreatment Linked with a Deterioration of Psychosocial Outcomes in Adult Life for Southern Brazilian Transgender Women.

A history of childhood maltreatment (HCM) has been associated with detrimental psychiatric outcomes. This is particularly true for transgender, for whom there is initial evidence that HCM may be associated with psychiatric morbidity. Our study aimed to further characterize the relationship between HCM and the development of mental disorder in adult life, based on a sample of Brazilian transgender women. Cross-sectional data were collected from a consecutive sample of 289 transgender women who attended the Hospital Clínicas clinic for gender dysphoria, in Porto Alegre, between 1998 and 2014. Our results demonstrated a greater risk of deteriorating mental health amongst participants who had experienced HCM. Given the disproportionally high rate of HCM in transgender persons, we advocate for greater assistance for transgender persons.

Perceptual-Auditory and Acoustical Analysis of the Voices of Transgender Women.

Voice is an important gender marker in the transition process as a transgender individual accepts a new gender identity. The objectives of this study were to describe and relate aspects of a perceptual-auditory analysis and the fundamental frequency (F0) of male-to-female (MtF) transsexual individuals. A case-control study was carried out with individuals aged 19-52 years who attended the Gender Identity Program of the Hospital de Clínicas of Porto Alegre. Vocal recordings from the MtF transgender and cisgender individuals (vowel /a:/ and six phrases of Consensus Auditory Perceptual Evaluation Voice [CAPE-V]) were edited and randomly coded before storage in a Dropbox folder. The voices (vowel /a:/) were analyzed by consensus on the same day by two judge speech therapists who had more than 10 years of experience in the voice area using the GRBASI perceptual-auditory vocal evaluation scale. Acoustic analysis of the voices was performed using the advanced Multi-Dimensional Voice Program software. The resonance focus and the degrees of masculinity and femininity for each voice recording were determined by listening to the CAPE-V phrases, for the same judges. There were significant differences between the groups regarding a greater frequency of subjects with F0 between 80 and 150 Hz (P = 0.003), and a greater frequency of hypernasal resonant focus (P < 0.001) in the MtF cases and greater frequency of subjects with absence of roughness (P = 0.031) in the control group. The MtF group of individuals showed altered vertical resonant focus, more masculine voices, and lower fundamental frequencies. The control group showed a significant absence of roughness.

Laryngeal surgical treatment in transgender women: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the effects of laryngeal surgical treatment in the voice of transgender women, especially on the fundamental frequency (f0). STUDY DESIGN: We performed a systematic review in PubMed and Scopus in July 2016, covering the period between 2005 and 2016. METHODS: Inclusion criteria were studies in English or Portuguese about the laryngeal surgical treatment in transgender women, featuring experimental design, title, year of publication, country of origin, journal of publication, participants, intervention, results. For the meta-analysis, only studies that had control group were selected. Exclusion criteria were articles that mentioned the use of surgical techniques but did not use the procedure in research, animal studies, studies of revision, and postmortem studies. RESULTS: Four hundred and twenty-three articles were identified in the initial search; 94 were selected for analysis by two referees, independently. After applying all the selection criteria, five studies remained in the meta-analysis. The surgical procedures that were identified included laryngoplasty with or without thyrohyoid approximation, Wendler glottoplasty, cricothyroid approximation, laser glottoplasty reduction and the vocal fold shortening and retrodisplacement of anterior commissure. There was no significant difference between the experimental group and the control group in relation to f0. CONCLUSION: No randomized clinical trials and prospective cohort studies are available, and a small number of retrospective cohort and case-control studies of surgical techniques reveal an increase in the f0. The evidence produced is not conclusive regarding which surgical technique would be better for vocal treatment of transgender women. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: NA Laryngoscope, 127:2596-2603, 2017.

Transsexual Voice Questionnaire for Male-to-female Brazilian Transsexual People.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to verify the answers to the transsexual voice questionnaire for male-to-female transsexual (TVQMtF) people given to individuals who participated in the Gender Identity Program (PROTIG) at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, in relation to some of their demographic characteristics, visual-perceptual evaluations of the face, laryngeal prominence, and auditoryperceptual judgments of voice. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 47 transsexual women aged between 18 and 50 responded to the (TVQMtF). The demographic data and perceptual ratings were selected from the PROTIG database. RESULTS: Among all participants, 55.32% had completed secondary education, and 72.34% had not undergone a sex reassignment surgery; 4.2% of subjects did not use hormones, 23.40% had undergone speech therapy, the average number of years of experience in the female role was 13.98 years, and the participants had been definitively cross-dressing for 5-34 years. Most of the participants had low scores on the (TVQMtF), and significant differences in the total score were observed in accordance with age (higher scores were observed among those <30 years and ≥40 years old) and visual-perceptual evaluations of the face (higher scores were observed in the individual evaluated with masculine face). There were no significant correlations between the total score obtained by the participants and the other demographic variables. CONCLUSIONS: Although most of the participants had low scores on the (TVQMtF), some individuals were still experiencing distress due to being perceived as being of the opposite sex or were dissatisfied with their voices.

BIRTH ORDER AND ANDROPHILIC MALE-TO-FEMALE TRANSSEXUALISM IN BRAZIL.

Previous research has indicated that biological older brothers increase the odds of androphilia in males. This finding has been termed the fraternal birth order effect. The maternal immune hypothesis suggests that this effect reflects the progressive immunization of some mothers to male-specific antigens involved in fetal male brain masculinization. Exposure to these antigens, as a result of carrying earlier-born sons, is hypothesized to produce maternal immune responses towards later-born sons, thus leading to female-typical neural development of brain regions underlying sexual orientation. Because this hypothesis posits mechanisms that have the potential to be active in any situation where a mother gestates repeated male fetuses, a key prediction is that the fraternal birth order effect should be observable in diverse populations. The present study assessed the association between sexual orientation and birth order in androphilic male-to-female transsexuals in Brazil, a previously unexamined population. Male-to-female transsexuals who reported attraction to males were recruited from a specialty gender identity service in southern Brazil (n=118) and a comparison group of gynephilic non-transsexual men (n=143) was recruited at the same hospital. Logistic regression showed that the transsexual group had significantly more older brothers and other siblings. These effects were independent of one another and consistent with previous studies of birth order and male sexual orientation. The presence of the fraternal birth order effect in the present sample provides further evidence of the ubiquity of this effect and, therefore, lends support to the maternal immune hypothesis as an explanation of androphilic sexual orientation in some male-to-female transsexuals.

Reduced serum concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in transsexual Brazilian men.

Serum BDNF levels are significantly decreased in transsexual Brazilian women when compared to cis-sexual men. Since transsexual men are also exposed to chronic social stress and have a high prevalence of associated psychopathologies, it is plausible to inquire if BDNF serum levels are altered in transsexual men as well. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate differences in BDNF serum level of transsexual men when compared to cis-sexual men and women. Our sample comprises 27 transsexual men, 31 cis-sexual women and 30 cis-sexual men recruited between 2011 and 2015. We observed that BDNF serum concentration is decreased in transsexual men comparing to cis-sexual men and women. Cross-sex hormone treatment, chronic social stress or long-term gender dysphoria (GD) could explain the variation found in BDNF serum levels.

Neural Correlates of Psychosis and Gender Dysphoria in an Adult Male.

Gender dysphoria (GD) (DSM-5) or transsexualism (ICD-10) refers to the marked incongruity between the experience of one's gender and the sex at birth. In this case report, we describe the use of LSD as a triggering factor of confusion in the gender identity of a 39-year-old male patient, with symptoms of psychosis and 25 years of substance abuse, who sought psychiatric care with the desire to undergo sex reassignment surgery. The symptoms of GD/psychosis were resolved by two therapeutic measures: withdrawal of psychoactive substances and use of a low-dose antipsychotic. We discuss the hypothesis that the superior parietal cortical area may be an important locus for body image and that symptoms of GD may be related to variations underlying this brain region. Finally, this case report shows that some presentations of GD can be created by life experience in individuals who have underlying mental or, synonymously, neurophysiological abnormalities.

Population-based HIV prevalence and associated factors in male-to-female transsexuals from Southern Brazil.

This study assessed HIV prevalence and associated factors in 284 male-to-female transsexuals from southern Brazil. Seroprevalence was 25 %. Seroprevalence was higher and associated with older age, residence in the metropolitan area, history of diagnosis of other STDs, and reported history of sex work. The year of diagnosis showed no significant relationship with the prevalence of HIV nor the fact of being in a stable relationship, a history of drug use, years of education, and race/ethnicity. The odds of HIV infection compared with the general Brazilian population was 55.55 (95 % CI 38.39-80.39). Changes in the views of the vulnerable groups to HIV/AIDS in Brazil and efforts in the construction of strategies of prevention and in the guarantee of human rights are required.