A cross-sectional study of factors associated with depression among transgender women in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

Abstract:  Depression is becoming a major mental health problem globally. Thailand is known as the accepting society for transgender but the available study on transgender women dealing with depression is scarce. This study aims to describe the prevalence of depression among Thai transgender women in Bangkok and to explore the associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 108 Thai transgender women in Bangkok, Thailand from January 2019 to April 2019. Data were collected through self-administered. Depression was assessed by using The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to explore the associated factors of depression. The prevalence of depression among transgender women in this study was 54.6%. Factors associated with depression in the crude analysis were: sex reassignment surgery (OR=2.45, 95%CI=0.96-6.24), illness history (OR=1.79, 95%CI=0.72-4.50). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, depression was significantly associated with drinking alcohol >1 time/month in the past 12months (adjusted OR=0.33, 95%CI=0.12-0.91). Transgender tend to experience higher rates of mental health issues than the general population. This study suggested that alcohol drinking was only significantly associated with depression in Thai transgender women. For further study, we need to find other associations with depression in transgender community.