TY - JOUR
T1 - Patient-Centered Approaches to Using BMI to Evaluate Gender-Affirming Surgery Eligibility
AU - Linsenmeyer, Whitney Riley
AU - Garwood, Sarah
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/6/1
Y1 - 2023/6/1
N2 - Body mass index (BMI) cutoffs are routinely used to assess eligibility for gender-affirming surgeries (GAS), yet they are not empirically based. The transgender population is disproportionately affected by overweight and obesity due to clinical and psychosocial influences on body size. Strict BMI requirements for GAS are likely to cause harm by delaying care or denying patients the benefits of GAS. A patient-centered approach to assessing GAS eligibility with respect to BMI would utilize reliable predictors of surgical outcomes specific to each gender-affirming surgery, include measures of body composition and body fat distribution rather than BMI alone, center on the patient's desired body size, and emphasize collaboration and support if the patient genuinely desires weight loss.
AB - Body mass index (BMI) cutoffs are routinely used to assess eligibility for gender-affirming surgeries (GAS), yet they are not empirically based. The transgender population is disproportionately affected by overweight and obesity due to clinical and psychosocial influences on body size. Strict BMI requirements for GAS are likely to cause harm by delaying care or denying patients the benefits of GAS. A patient-centered approach to assessing GAS eligibility with respect to BMI would utilize reliable predictors of surgical outcomes specific to each gender-affirming surgery, include measures of body composition and body fat distribution rather than BMI alone, center on the patient's desired body size, and emphasize collaboration and support if the patient genuinely desires weight loss.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181873246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1001/amajethics.2023.398
DO - 10.1001/amajethics.2023.398
M3 - Article
C2 - 37285293
AN - SCOPUS:85181873246
SN - 2376-6980
VL - 25
SP - E398-E406
JO - AMA Journal of Ethics
JF - AMA Journal of Ethics
IS - 6
ER -