The findings of this Evidence Check review will be used to inform decisions related to clinical services in NSW for young people (under 18 years) who are trans or gender diverse (TGD) or have gender dysphoria. The review was conducted in January 2020 and aimed to provide an overview of current evidence related to the clinical care of this population and to identify the risks and benefits of clinical medical interventions and psychosocial interventions.

Overall, the available evidence was limited and generally of low quality. Some considerations include the emerging nature of this field, low population prevalence of this group, and the ethical and practical challenges of undertaking higher quality studies which involve a control group (where some patients do not receive treatment).

However, the authors identified consistency in some areas of the evidence and were able to present findings related to puberty suppression and gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) that are of value to clinical services.

Evidence for gender-affirming surgery and psychosocial interventions was extremely limited.

The authors were able to provide recommendations for future research.

The Sax Institute is currently undertaking an updated Evidence Check to review emerging evidence and research.

Citation

Watson C, Davidson S, Bourke, S, Bourchier L, Temple-Smith M, Sanci L. Evidence for effective interventions for children and young people with gender dysphoria: an Evidence Check rapid review brokered by the Sax Institute for the NSW Ministry of Health, 2020

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