To provide comprehensive guidance for laboratory medicine professionals on diagnostic services for gender-diverse patients.
Approach:
Guidance Development: The guidance addresses challenges in interpreting laboratory test results for individuals receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy and offers practical recommendations for pathology and laboratory practice.
Personalized Diagnostic Interpretation: It recommends a personalized approach to diagnostic interpretation that considers physiology, hormone exposure, and the patient's overall clinical presentation.
Integration with Electronic Health Records: The document suggests incorporating organ inventories into electronic health records for better interpretation of laboratory findings.
Standardization in Transfusion Medicine: It calls for standardized approaches in transfusion medicine for transgender and nonbinary donors and recipients.
Documentation Practices: The guidance recommends documenting both legal sex and affirmed gender identity using anatomically accurate, gender-neutral terminology.
Key Findings:
Hormone therapy can alter laboratory test results, complicating interpretation if traditional reference intervals are applied.
The recommendations primarily apply to adults who have received gender-affirming hormone therapy for at least six months.
The evidence base for these guidelines is still developing.
Interpretation:
ADLM's guidance aims to improve the accuracy of test result interpretation and enhance personalized care for gender-diverse patients.
Limitations:
The guidance is based on the strongest available evidence, which is still developing.
Recommendations primarily focus on adults, limiting applicability to other age groups.
Conclusion:
The guidance provides an initial framework for laboratories to adapt diagnostic workflows as knowledge evolves.
