Readiness to provide pharmaceutical care to transgender patients: Perspectives from pharmacists and transgender individuals

Abstract

(1) Asses pharmacist readiness to provide pharmaceutical care for transgender patients through measuring both pharmacists’ knowledge and attitudes towards transgender patients. (2) Asses transgender patients’ perception of pharmacist readiness to provide them pharmaceutical care through measuring both pharmacists’ knowledge and attitudes towards them. (3) Compare pharmacist readiness to provide pharmaceutical care for transgender patients and patient perception of this readiness. Descriptive cross-sectional. The pharmacist’s readiness, and the transgender patient’s perception of their readiness, defined as a combination of knowledge and attitude, were evaluated. Two separate, validated questionnaires with dichotomous, multiple choice, and open-ended questions were used to measure both constructs among both populations. Pharmacists practicing in Puerto Rico were provided the questionnaire by email or in person. Transgender participants in Puerto Rico were recruited through health clinics and community partners and were surveyed in person. A total number of 96 pharmacists and 31 transgender participant responses were included in the analysis. The majority of the pharmacists’ knowledge scores (90%) were found in the low (0–5) and moderate (6–10) ranges, with a mean score of 7.23 out of a total possible score of 16 (SD 2.36). For the attitude construct, most of the scores (81%) were found in the high (18–26) range, with a mean score was 19.63 out of a total possible score of 26 (SD 3.65). For both constructs, transgender patient perceptions echoed the results of the pharmacists, indicating several perceived knowledge deficits in combination with mostly positive attitudes. The majority of pharmacists demonstrated positive attitudes toward caring for transgender patients, and transgender patients also perceived these positive attitudes from pharmacists. However, the measured and perceived knowledge deficits observed in this study suggest the need for educational interventions to improve pharmacist readiness to provide care for transgender patients.