ABSTRACT
Preventive care is an essential component of health care for all individuals and critical to the achievement of many national health objectives (for example, United States Department of Health and Human Services 2000). Primary and secondary prevention of chronic disease has become increasingly important among the transgendered population, especially in light of an aging cohort on long-term transgender hormone therapy and a significant number of patients presenting for hormone therapy at older ages, with risk factors for chronic disease or comorbid conditions (Blanchard 1994; Witten 2003). However, transgendered people face significant barriers to adequate preventive services, including a lack of transgender-specific medical knowledge available to generalist physicians. This chapter will review the preventive care challenges for the transgendered population, describe an evidence-based approach to prevention, and present transgender-specific prevention recommendations based on the available evidence.
