(274) Sexual Behaviors and Social Barriers to Access Public Health of Brazilian Transgender Men Free

There is a need of information about transgender individuals and their health needs. This work has as object of study sexual behaviors and social barriers to access health of transgender men. There is a need for information about transgender men and their health needs. Globally, transgender people face discrimination and social exclusion. Available data indicate numerous healthcare inequities between trans and cisgender (non-trans) people.

The aim of this study was to evaluate transgender men at a public university hospital linked to brazilian´s public healthcare, analyzing sexual practices and barriers to access affirmative care.

The medical records of seventeen patients (range 18-42 of age) followed between 2016 and 2018, were used to collect data retrospectively and descriptively with quantitative and qualitative approach. Through a structured interview, there was a focus on data concerning difficulties to reach healthcare and medical inequities.

It was noticed that transgender men face social barriers to health access, such as insistent non-respect of the use of the social name, the lack of knowledge of health demands by health professionals and the barriers imposed by family and/or spouse. The sexual practices performed by these men, who proved to be widely diverse and changing, are mostly penetrative (70,58%), and such practices may be passive and / or active. It was also observed variable sexual orientation among the patients, although most of them (88,23%) maintain a relationship with a cisgender woman. Gynecological follow-up was also the subject of discussion in this study, and despite the fact that 23,52% of patients had gynecological complaints, 29,41% had never done a gynecological consultation, being the resistance to do gynecological exams very commun. Only 28,57% of the patients had not yet started hormone therapy, and they declared that they would like to start this process. The majority of transgender men have also the need of body change.

Therefore, it is necessary to develop strategies in public and universal health that are effective to provide transgender men with their need to body change or hormone therapy, as well as to guide them to the gynecological examination. Additionally, health care providers need to guarantee proper and free of prejudice assistance.

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