Inclusivity in Laboratory Medicine: Endocrine Testing in Transgender Individuals

Course overview

Short description: Choosing the right laboratory test for any clinical situation can be difficult. One particularly complex situation is choosing appropriate testing for transgender and nonbinary patients. Gender and sex are words that many use interchangeably, however, understanding their differences is key to creating systems that accurately represent transgender patients. Correct identification and representation of all people and clinical scenarios allows laboratories to provide an accurate result for the right test. Objectives: 1. Define terms associated with the gender identity of transgender and nonbinary individuals, including sex, gender, the prefixes cis- and trans-, gender incongruence, and gender dysphoria. 2. Identify the utility and mechanism of gender-affirming hormone therapies in transgender and nonbinary individuals. 3. Evaluate the utility of immunoassay and mass spectrometry methods for both testosterone and estrogen measurements. 4. Describe possible solutions to laboratory-specific challenges faced by transgender individuals.