Routine Vaccination Coverage in an Adolescent Transgender Population in a Large Tertiary Care Center in the United States

• Published in: Journal of pediatric health care Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 480 - 485
• Main Authors: Buscemi-Kimmins, Teaghen, Teelin, Karen L., Mozo, Nicole M., Shaw, Jana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-07-2024
• Subjects: Adolescent; Female; gender-affirming care; Healthcare Disparities - statistics & numerical data; Humans; immunization registry; Male; New York - epidemiology; Papillomavirus Vaccines - administration & dosage; Tertiary Care Centers; Transgender and gender diverse community; Transgender Persons - statistics & numerical data; United States - epidemiology; Vaccination - statistics & numerical data; vaccination coverage; Vaccination Coverage - statistics & numerical data; New York; United States; vaccination coverage; adolescent; gender-affirming care; immunization registry; Transgender and gender diverse community
• ISSN: 0891-5245; 1532-656X; 1532-656X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2023.11.014

To address healthcare disparities among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adolescents, we examined vaccination coverage in those receiving gender-affirming care.
Our study analyzed de-identified data (2013–2022) from a tertiary care clinic. Comparing vaccination rates of 203 TGD adolescent patients to age-matched peers in New York State using CDC National Immunization Survey-Teen data.
We found TGD patients had similar vaccination coverage to the general adolescent population. Notably, TGD patients had significantly higher up-to-date human papillomavirus vaccination coverage (76.4%, CI=69.9, 82.0) than the NYS adolescent population (60.5%, CI=53.0, 67.5).
This suggests TGD adolescents at gender-affirming clinics maintain or exceed vaccination rates of their cisgender counterparts. Future research should explore vaccination rates for TGD individuals without access to gender-affirming care.