Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Quality of Life among Transgenders: A Community-based Study

Introduction: The term “transgender” (or “trans”) is used to describe the individuals whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth based on physical characteristics. Transgender individuals often face marginalization, social stigma, and prejudice, which can result in their health needs being overlooked. These all factors contribute and have a negative effect on the quality of life of transgenders which can further lead to high level of depression anxiety and stress among them. Aim: To assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, and the level of quality of life among transgenders. Materials and Methods: The current study employed a cross-sectional and observational study design and is a community-based study. After taking approval of the study from the institutional ethical committee (letter no.2429/acad/mca/2023, date August 31, 2023), the investigators met the transgender subjects at their community residence with the help of a social worker. After meeting the head of the transgender community and explaining the purpose of the study, a meeting was arranged with transgenders who were living both within and outside the community residence, i.e. those living with their respective families. The sociodemographic details of the subjects were collected using a semistructured demographic pro forma and then they were screened to find out the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress and level of quality of life by using Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 Items Questionnaire and World Health Organization quality of life BREF (Hindi version), respectively. Results: In our study, we observed a significant prevalence of depression reaching 61.25%, the prevalence of anxiety was recorded at 63.75% and the prevalence of stress was found to be 65%. The overall quality of life score was 54.975 ± 13.7025 which shows moderate quality of life among transgenders. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of depression, anxiety stress among transgender, they had moderate level of quality of life.