Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy in Primary Care Tied to Reduced Depressive Symptoms

MONDAY, March 24, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) in primary care is associated with lower rates of moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms in U.S. transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse (TGD) adults over four years of follow-up, according to a study published online March 17 in JAMA Network Open.

Sari L. Reisner, Sc.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues evaluated the use of GAHT delivered in primary care as an intervention for moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms in diverse TGD adult patients. The analysis included 3,592 TGD patients seen at federally qualified community health centers in Boston and New York City from 2016 to 2019.

The researchers found that 18.9 percent of patients were nonbinary. At baseline, 84.5 percent of the individuals were prescribed GAHT and 15.3 percent reported moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms. There was a statistically lower risk for moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms over follow-up for patients prescribed GAHT versus those not prescribed GAHT (adjusted risk ratio, 0.85).

“The findings of this study suggest that integrated GAHT with primary care and low-barrier GAHT access is associated with lower rates of mental health morbidity in TGD patients,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed ties to  McGraw Hill.

Abstract/Full Text