Transgender individuals have significantly higher rate of suicide and mortality, report shows

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A newly published Danish study has shown that transgender individuals have significantly higher rates of suicide attempts and mortality than nontransgender individuals. Published by the American Medical Association’s JAMA Network, the study is titled ‘Transgender Identity and Suicide Attempts and Mortality in Denmark.’

The study of 6 657 456 Denmark-born individuals aged 15 years or older spans more than 40 years from 1980 to 2021. Transgender identity was determined through national hospital records and administrative records of legal change of gender. The study’s lead authors are Annette Erlangsen, PhD, Anna Lund Jacobsen, BSc, and Anne Ranning, PhD.

According to the authors’ report, the study found as follows: “Overall, 3759 individuals (0.06%; 52.5% assigned male sex at birth) were identified as transgender at a median age of 22 years (IQR, 18-31 years) and followed up during 21 404 person-years, during which 92 suicide attempts, 12 suicides, and 245 suicide-unrelated deaths occurred. Standardized suicide attempt rates per 100 000 person-years were 498 for transgender vs 71 for nontransgender individuals (aIRR, 7.7; 95% CI, 5.9-10.2). Standardized suicide mortality rates per 100 000 person-years were 75 for transgender vs 21 for nontransgender individuals (aIRR, 3.5; 95% CI, 2.0-6.3).

“Standardized suicide-unrelated mortality rates per 100 000 person-years were 2380 for transgender vs 1310 for nontransgender individuals (aIRR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.6-2.2), and standardized all-cause mortality rates per 100 000 person-years were 2559 for transgender vs 1331 for nontransgender individuals (aIRR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.7-2.4),” the authors reported.

Commenting on their findings, the authors said in their report: “[The] results suggest that transgender individuals had significantly higher rates of suicide attempt, suicide mortality, suicide-unrelated mortality, and all-cause mortality compared with the nontransgender population.”

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