Autism trait prevalence in treatment seeking adolescents and adults attending specialist gender services.
BACKGROUND
To assess the prevalence of autism traits in individuals accessing gender affirming treatments, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in the regional specialist gender services in Northern Ireland.


METHODS
One hundred and twenty-three individuals (38 adolescents and 69 adults) currently attending or who previously attended specialist gender services in Northern Ireland were recruited. Fifty-six individuals assigned male at birth (AMAB) and 66 individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB) took part in the study. Main outcome measures: Autism Quotient (AQ), Cambridge Behavior Scale (EQ), and RAADS-14.


RESULTS
Autism trait prevalence rates of 19.5% (AQ); 25.4% (RAADS-14); and 35.8% (poor empathy traits). A combined measure comprising all three provided a prevalence of 17.2%. There were no mean differences in the scores between AMAB (assigned male at birth) individuals and AFAB (assigned female at birth) individuals.


CONCLUSIONS
Autism traits present additional challenges during the assessment and treatment of individuals with gender dysphoria. Autism screening tools can aid in the identification of individual with additional needs.
['Lehmann|Katrin|K|0000-0003-1350-6994', 'Rosato|Michael|M|', 'McKenna|Hugh|H|0000-0003-4916-6602', 'Leavey|Gerard|G|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D001321:Autistic Disorder D015897:Comorbidity D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D000068116:Gender Dysphoria D005783:Gender Identity D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008403:Mass Screening D010641:Phenotype D015995:Prevalence
Autism prevalence gender dysphoria transgender