A new study has found that the average age of a gender dysphoria diagnosis has decreased from 31 to 26.
What is gender dysphoria?
Gender dysphoria is the distressing feeling that your gender identity does not align with your sex assigned at birth. While many trans and non-binary people experience dysphoria, not all do. Gender dysphoria is not a prerequisite for being trans or non-binary. Nevertheless, it is still important to validate the feelings of dysphoria experienced by many members of the community.
In June 2023, a new study explained that the average age of a gender dysphoria diagnosis dropped from 31 to 26. The researchers looked through medical records from over 40 million patients aged between four and 65. Most of the patients were based in the US.
Study finds average age of dysphoria diagnosis age has fallen
The findings of the study estimate that 155 per 100,000 people received a gender dysphoria diagnosis between 2017 and 2021. This translates to 0.16%. The amount of diagnoses has significantly increased in the past couple of years. This led to the average age dropping from 31 in 2017 to 26 in 2021. The majority of diagnoses were among young trans people in their late teens and early 20s. For people who were assigned male at birth the average age used to be 30 and for people assigned female at birth, the average age used to be 27.
The decreased average of a gender dysphoria diagnosis can be attributed to the fact that more trans and non-binary people have been treated in the past five years. This is a huge accomplishment which shows that even though many continue to face barriers, change is slowly happening. The results of the study also confirm that more trans people are feeling comfortable enough to seek medical care in the first place and more healthcare professionals are open to provide gender affirming healthcare.