Medical group backs gender-related treatments for young people, but calls for research review
The American Academy of Pediatrics has renewed its support for gender-based care for minors while commissioning a fresh look at the evidence.
< p class="css -at9mc1 evys1bk0">The American Academy of Pediatrics on Thursday backed gender-related treatments for children, reaffirming its 2018 stance on a medical approach that has since been banned in 19 states.But the influential group of doctors also took it a step further by commissioning a systematic review of medical research into treatments, following similar efforts in Europe that found evidence uncertain of their effectiveness in adolescents.
Critics from across the political spectrum - including a small but vocal group of pediatricians - have called for closer examination of the evidence in recent years, especially as the number of teens who identify as transgender has rapidly increased.< /p>
Treatments are relatively new and few studies followed their long-term effects. Health bodies in England and Sweden have limited access to treatments after conducting systematic reviews, the gold standard for evaluating medical research.
"The board is satisfied that the existing evidence is such that the current policy is appropriate,” said Mark Del Monte, chief executive of the A.A.P. “At the same time, the board has recognized that additional details would be helpful here. "
Regarding policy changes in Europe, he said, "they are engaged in their process, we are engaged in our process.
After completing the review, he said, the group will issue additional clinical advice for physicians and likely update its recommendations.
The 16-member board of directors of the A.A.P., which represents 67,000 pediatricians across the United States, voted to reaffirm the 2018 guidelines at a meeting Thursday in Itasca, Illinois. The vote comes at a time of intense political pressure on transgender people and the doctors who care for them.
Over the past two years, Republican lawmakers across the country have banned so-called gender-affirming care, which can include psychotherapy, puberty-blocking drugs, hormones and, rarely, surgery. Opponents of care argue that it is experimental and that children lack the maturity to consent to it.
The A.A.P. has strongly condemned the legislative bans as a dangerous intrusion into complex medical decisions between doctors and families, and has filed amicus briefs in support of the numerous legal challenges brought against the bans by civil rights groups.
>Much of the academy's support for gender-affirming care is based on its previous position statement from 2018, which said treatments were essential and should be covered by insurers disease. Transgender adolescents have high rates of anxiety, depression and suicide attempts, and early evidence suggests that gender-affirming care may improve their mental health.
Position statements like those voted on today remain valid for five years before being reconsidered, after which they may be reaffirmed, withdrawn or revised in the light of new evidence. An example of such a reversal is the academy's 2017 endorsement of peanut consumption in infants, based on a landmark study showing that early exposure could help prevent life-threatening allergies. /p>
The American Academy of Pediatrics has renewed its support for gender-based care for minors while commissioning a fresh look at the evidence.
< p class="css -at9mc1 evys1bk0">The American Academy of Pediatrics on Thursday backed gender-related treatments for children, reaffirming its 2018 stance on a medical approach that has since been banned in 19 states.But the influential group of doctors also took it a step further by commissioning a systematic review of medical research into treatments, following similar efforts in Europe that found evidence uncertain of their effectiveness in adolescents.
Critics from across the political spectrum - including a small but vocal group of pediatricians - have called for closer examination of the evidence in recent years, especially as the number of teens who identify as transgender has rapidly increased.< /p>
Treatments are relatively new and few studies followed their long-term effects. Health bodies in England and Sweden have limited access to treatments after conducting systematic reviews, the gold standard for evaluating medical research.
"The board is satisfied that the existing evidence is such that the current policy is appropriate,” said Mark Del Monte, chief executive of the A.A.P. “At the same time, the board has recognized that additional details would be helpful here. "
Regarding policy changes in Europe, he said, "they are engaged in their process, we are engaged in our process.
After completing the review, he said, the group will issue additional clinical advice for physicians and likely update its recommendations.
The 16-member board of directors of the A.A.P., which represents 67,000 pediatricians across the United States, voted to reaffirm the 2018 guidelines at a meeting Thursday in Itasca, Illinois. The vote comes at a time of intense political pressure on transgender people and the doctors who care for them.
Over the past two years, Republican lawmakers across the country have banned so-called gender-affirming care, which can include psychotherapy, puberty-blocking drugs, hormones and, rarely, surgery. Opponents of care argue that it is experimental and that children lack the maturity to consent to it.
The A.A.P. has strongly condemned the legislative bans as a dangerous intrusion into complex medical decisions between doctors and families, and has filed amicus briefs in support of the numerous legal challenges brought against the bans by civil rights groups.
>Much of the academy's support for gender-affirming care is based on its previous position statement from 2018, which said treatments were essential and should be covered by insurers disease. Transgender adolescents have high rates of anxiety, depression and suicide attempts, and early evidence suggests that gender-affirming care may improve their mental health.
Position statements like those voted on today remain valid for five years before being reconsidered, after which they may be reaffirmed, withdrawn or revised in the light of new evidence. An example of such a reversal is the academy's 2017 endorsement of peanut consumption in infants, based on a landmark study showing that early exposure could help prevent life-threatening allergies. /p>
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