Citation

Khoury B, El Khoury J, Fresán Orellana A, Daouk S, Khauli N, Ramadan Z, Reed GM, Robles R. Cult. Health Sex. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Models of Attention, Direction of Epidemiological and Psychosocial Research, National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñíz, Ministry of Health, Mexico City, Mexico.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13691058.2019.1692907

PMID

32031503

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the adequacy of the then proposed International Classification of Diseases version 11 (ICD-11) diagnostic guidelines for Gender Incongruence of Adolescence and Adulthood in a sample of transgender people accessing multi-disciplinary health care services at specialised organisations in Lebanon. The cross-sectional study reported here was part of the ICD-11 field test studies that took place in several countries. Twenty-eight Arab transgender adults residing in Lebanon were recruited after giving consent to participate in a structured interview with a mental health professional. The questions asked of them consisted of the following: socio-demographic data; medical history related to gender identity; experiences of gender incongruence; psychological distress; rejection; violence; and functional impairment.

RESULTS showed that Arab transgender individuals living in Lebanon report being the victims of violence, abuse, discrimination and rejection from family, peers and society in general. As a result, they develop psychological distress that is better explained by the social context in which they live, rather than by their transgender identity. Reformulating ICD-10 Transsexualism as Gender Incongruence of Adolescence and Adulthood in ICD-11 and moving this diagnosis out of the chapter on mental disorders chapter would be favourable to the Lebanese sample.

Language: en

Keywords

Gender incongruence; ICD – 11; Lebanon; distress; transgender