Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: May 14, 2026
Date Accepted: Sep 9, 2026
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
GENDER-Q Youth Patient-Reported Outcome Measure: Protocol for an International Field Test Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
The need for gender-affirming care (GAC) for youth has increased rapidly worldwide. GAC includes social, psychological and medical interventions aimed at alleviating gender-related distress. Given that many outcomes of gender-affirming treatments relate to how youth function and feel, a rigorously developed gender-specific patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) is needed.
Objective:
This paper outlines the protocol for an international cross-sectional study to field test a comprehensive new PROM that measures outcomes and experiences of care for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth aged 12-25 years receiving GAC (GENDER-Q Youth).
Methods:
This study follows internationally established guidelines for PROM development and validation. GENDER-Q Youth is being translated into Danish, Dutch, Norwegian and German in preparation for the international field test. The study will recruit TGD aged 12 to 25 years using multiple strategies (e.g., face-to-face, emails). Rasch Measurement Theory (RMT) analysis will be used to item reduce each scale and to examine their reliability and validity. Test-retest reliability and 147 a priori hypotheses-based tests of construct validity will be performed.
Results:
The field test study is underway and expected to be completed by September 2026. The research described in this protocol is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and supported by a Canada Research Chair in Patient-Reported Outcomes.
Conclusions:
This protocol describes the international field test study to validate GENDER-Q Youth, a comprehensive new PROM for TGD youth aged 12 to 25 years seeking GAC. Once developed, GENDER-Q Youth can be used in gender-affirming care, research, and quality improvement efforts. Clinical Trial: Not applicable
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