Need for more research on and health interventions for transgender people

Abstract

Background: Recently, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) scientific production is growing, but transgender (TG) people is less considered in the LGBT-related research, highlighting the lack of representative data on this neglected population. Methods: To assess the current status of scientific production on TG population, a bibliometric study was performed using the articles on TG people deposited in five databases, including PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Science Citation Index (SCI), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS). Results: The PubMed/Medline search retrieved 2370 documents, which represented 0.008% of all articles recorded in Medline. The Scopus search identified 4974 articles. At SCI, 2863 articles were identified. A search of the SciELO database identified 39 articles, whereas the LILACS search identified 44 articles. Most papers were from the US (57.59%), followed by Canada (5.15%), the UK (4.42%), Australia (3.19%), The Netherlands (2.46%) and Peru (1.83%). These six countries accounted for 74.6% of all scientific output. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the TG-related research is low, especially in low-income developing countries, where stigma and discrimination are common. More awareness, knowledge, and sensitivity in healthcare communities are needed to eliminate barriers in health attention and research in this population.