A systematic review of patient-reported outcome measures following transsexual surgery

Background The aims of our study were to identify studiesthat evaluated patient satisfaction after transsexual surgery,analyze existing questionnaires, and summarize theirdevelopment, psychometric properties, and content.Methods A systematic review of the English-languageliterature was performed. Patient-reported outcome measuresdesigned to assess patient satisfaction and quality oflife following transsexual surgery were identified. Qualifyinginstruments were assessed for content and adherenceto international guidelines for development andvalidation.Results From 796 articles, 19 studies had sufficient dataand met the inclusion criteria. Included were a total of 2299patients and 17 patient-reported outcome measures: 10generic instruments that assessed quality of life, 4 specificfor female genital or sexual satisfaction, 2 specific fortranssexual body image or gender dysphoria, and 1 specificfor plastic surgery. The questionnaires were analyzed byreviewers to assess the adherence to the rules of the USFDA and the Scientific Advisory Committee of the MedicalOutcomes Trust. We identified 17 individual questionnairesthat were included. All measures were limited byeither their development, their validation, or their content.Conclusions There is a need for a new self-assessmenttool, which should include functional, psychorelational,and cosmetic components, to measure satisfaction andquality of life of patients who have undergone transsexualsurgery.Level of Evidence III This journal requires that authorsassign a level of evidence to each article. For a fulldescription of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings,please refer to the Table of Contents or the onlineInstructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.