Autistic Traits in Treatment-Seeking Transgender Adults.
Anna Nobili, Cris Glazebrook, Walter Pierre Bouman and 5 others
PMID 29654452WHAT IT FOUND
Transgender adults seeking gender care and cisgender adults had similar possible autism screening rates: 36.3% versus 33.2%.
Among people assigned female at birth, transgender adults had 45% versus 30%.
Key findings
01Overall, possible autism screening caseness was 36.3% in transgender adults and 33.2% in cisgender adults, with no significant difference.
02Among people assigned female at birth, 45% of transgender adults and 30% of cisgender adults were above the screening cut-off, and the transgender group had nearly twice the risk of being above the cut-off (odds ratio 1.939, 95% confidence interval 1.35 to 2.78).
03Transgender adults had slightly lower total AQ-short scores than cisgender adults, but higher social behaviour scores and lower numbers and patterns scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Participants were matched only on age and sex assigned at birth, not on IQ or education, so those differences could affect scores. The AQ-short is a self-report screening tool, not a diagnostic assessment. Cisgender controls were recruited through a psychology research website, and response bias may have inflated autistic trait scores in that group. The transgender and cisgender groups completed different versions of the AQ, which may have affected how people answered the items. The screening cut-off produced many possible cases in both groups, far above the estimated 1.1% general population prevalence of ASC, so it may overflag possible autism. People already taking cross-sex hormones were excluded, so the study does not describe those adults.
Declared interests
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The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that transgender adults overall have more autism. The overall group comparison was not significant, and the higher rate applies only to people assigned female at birth. The AQ-short is a screening questionnaire, not a diagnostic test.