ESPE Abstracts

Background: Transgender youth in Thailand often encounter limitations when accessing gender services, leading many to use non-prescribed hormones. However, there is limited information available on the specific types of hormones used by this population.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of transgender female youth in Thailand and the types of hormones they use.

Methods: From September 2021 to October 2022, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed via social media platforms including Facebook, LINE open chat, and Twitter.

Results: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 254 transgender female youth participated, of which 89% (n=226) reported previous hormone use. The mean age at first hormone use was 15.5 years (SD 2.5). Most of the hormone users (94.6%) reported disclosing their gender identity, while 60% of non-users had not disclosed to anyone. Among the hormone users, 35.8% reported using a single hormone, 37.5% reported using two hormones, and 26.7% reported using more than two hormones. The most commonly reported hormone used was oral cyproterone acetate (52.3%), followed by oral estradiol valerate (46.2%) and oral estradiol (38.3%). Additionally, 23.7% reported previous use of oral contraceptive pills, 7.5% used oral phytoestrogen, 3.8% used estrogen gel, and 2.2% used estrogen/estradiol injection or Hydroxyprogesterone caproate injection. The mean happiness score was similar between the ever-using hormone(s) group (7.0±1.9) and the never-using hormone(s) group (7.3±1.9).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that Thai transgender female youth begin hormone use at an early age of approximately 15 years old and often use multiple types of hormones, with a significant proportion reporting previous use of contraceptive pills. These findings underscore the importance of promoting medical accessibility and providing appropriate hormone use supervision to ensure the safety and well-being of this population. Further research is needed to better understand the long-term effects of hormone use among transgender youth in Thailand.