| Abstract: | Objectives. We estimated the prevalence and incidence of gender identity disorder (GID) diagnoses among veterans in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health care system and examined suicide risk among veterans with a GID diagnosis.Methods. We examined VHA electronic medical records from 2000 through 2011 for 2 official ICD-9 diagnosis codes that indicate transgender status. We generated annual period prevalence estimates and calculated incidence using the prevalence of GID at 2000 as the baseline year. We cross-referenced GID cases with available data (2009–2011) of suicide-related events among all VHA users to examine suicide risk.Results. GID prevalence in the VHA is higher (22.9/100 000 persons) than are previous estimates of GID in the general US population (4.3/100 000 persons). The rate of suicide-related events among GID-diagnosed VHA veterans was more than 20 times higher than were rates for the general VHA population.Conclusions. The prevalence of GID diagnosis nearly doubled over 10 years among VHA veterans. Research is needed to examine suicide risk among transgender veterans and how their VHA utilization may be enhanced by new VA initiatives on transgender care.The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) defines gender identity disorder (GID) as having deeply rooted feelings of persistent discomfort with one’s current biological gender and having the desire to be of the opposite gender to the extent that “the disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in … important areas of functioning.”1(p260)Although the diagnosis is relatively rare, persons diagnosed with GID constitute a subpopulation of people who experience numerous disparities in physical and mental health as well as health care access.2 Although a precise estimate of GID occurrence among the general population is unknown, one theoretical framework (i.e., flight into hypermasculinity) posits that GID may be overrepresented in the military and among veterans,3 and there is support for this hypothesis in community-based samples of transgender persons in which high prevalence of military service is observed.4 Furthermore, there is evidence of elevated risk for suicidal behavior among transgender populations.5–10 However, prevalence of GID and suicide-related events (e.g., suicide planning, suicide attempt) have yet to be examined among veterans who have received Veterans Health Administration (VHA) services. We have addressed this unmet need. |
