
Anna Martha Vaitses FontanariPontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul | PUCRS
Anna Martha Vaitses Fontanari
Doctor of Medicine
About
66
Publications
46,539
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Introduction
Currently, I'm a postdoctoral student at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), which is one of the best postgraduate program in psychiatry in Brazil and one of the main Latin American centers of transgender studies, and a medical resident in psychiatry at the Hospital Psiquiátrico São Pedro. I'm working on a systematic review and meta-analysis summarizing data on comprehensive sex education that may guide public policies on Global South.
Skills and Expertise
Additional affiliations
March 2013 - March 2015
Publications
Publications (66)
Background:
We systematically reviewed the literature and performed a meta-analysis on the effects of speech therapy and phonosurgery, for transgender women, in relation to the fundamental frequency gain of the voice, regarding the type of vocal sample collected, and we compared the effectiveness of the treatments. In addition, the study design, y...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00399.].
O modelo do Estresse de Minoria (EM) propõe uma explicação de como estressores
relacionados ao preconceito levam pessoas lésbicas, gays e bissexuais (LGB) a terem piores desfechos negativos de saúde mental do que pessoas heterossexuais. Os componentes básicos do EM são o preconceito internalizado, preconceito antecipado e preconceito experienciado....
The rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among transgender youths are high. However, in Brazil, there are no studies about these outcomes in this population. The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in Brazilian transgender youths (binary and non-binary), in association with predictor...
Purpose: This study aimed to describe the gynecological care provided to Brazilian women who have sex with women (WSW).
Methods: Respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit Brazilian WSW. The survey questions, concerning gynecological care, were designed in Portuguese by medical professionals, medical students, and LGBTQ+ community members, incl...
This cross-sectional and descriptive study aimed to evaluate the sexual function, urinary function, and quality of life of 26 Brazilian trans women who have undergone gender-affirming surgery (GAS) using the gold standard technique (penile inversion vaginoplasty) in the Gender Identity Transdisciplinary Program at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Aleg...
Background
HIV disproportionately affects people who inject drugs, transgender people, sex workers, men who have sex with men, and incarcerated people. Recognized as key populations (KP), these groups face increased impact of HIV infection and reduced access to health assistance. In 1990, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention organized tech...
Embora haja uma crença equivocada de que se trata de um método
trivial, já que toda pesquisa, empírica ou não, envolve uma revisão de literatura, a revisão sistemática é um método específico que contém uma série de passos que devem ser seguidos. Sobretudo, com a reocupação crescente no campo científico em relação à queda na qualidade deste tipo de...
Transgender youth are especially susceptible and vulnerable to mental health concerns. Minority Stress Theory may explain these mental health concerns and avoidance to seek healthcare provision in this population. Understanding transgender youth adaptive and maladaptive coping mechanisms may help create strategies that promote quality of life and r...
Transgender and gender-diverse students may experience poorer school outcomes due to a threatening school climate. A rapid review using systematic search found 2,111 studies mentioned LGBTQ + students, but only three were peer-reviewed empirical tests of potential interventions to improve school outcomes among transgender and gender-diverse youth:...
Correctly recognizing gender identity in population-based surveys is essential to develop effective public health strategies to improve the living conditions of transgender and gender-diverse populations, as well as to adequately collect data on cisgender individuals. This study aims to present the two-step measure as the best strategy for assessin...
To ensure that public health services provide comprehensive and inclusive health care to the general population, it is important for countries to estimate how many of their citizens experience gender dysphoria and wish to receive specialized hormone treatment or gender-affirming surgery. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of indiv...
Objective: Describe general characteristics of transgender parents, highlight aspects of their relationship with their children and explore experiences with discrimination, while comparing to transgender adults who were not parents.
Background: Few studies have investigated families headed by transgender individuals. Even less in contexts where th...
Correctly recognizing gender identity in population-based surveys is essential to develop effective public health strategies for ameliorating transgender and gender diverse populations' harsh living conditions, as well as to adequately collect data on cisgender persons. The purpose of this study is to present the two-step measure as the best strate...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.627661.].
Purpose: Gender dysphoria (GD) is an incompatibility between biological sex and personal gender identity; individuals harbor an unalterable conviction that they were born in the wrong body, which causes personal suffering. In this context, surgery is imperative to achieve a successful gender transition and plays a key role in alleviating the associ...
This study aimed to examine psychosocial factors and medical history as well as symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress associated with ruminative thinking in transgender people with gender dysphoria (GD) before undergoing gender affirmation surgery (GAS). This study evaluated 189 participants with GD (111 trans women and 78 trans men) from a s...
Objective: This study aims to compare the acoustic vocal analysis results of a group of transgender women relative to those of cisgender women.
Methods: Thirty transgender women between the ages of 19 and 52 years old participated in the study. The control group was composed of 31 cisgender women between the ages of 20 and 48 years old. A standardi...
Since 2014, the Gender Identity Program (PROTIG) of Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) has been assisting transgender youth seeking gender-affirmative treatment offered at a public health-care service specializing in gender in southern Brazil. This article aims to analyze sociodemographic and clinical data regarding the diagnoses of gender...
Introduction:
Gender dysphoria (GD) is characterized by a marked incongruence between experienced gender and one's gender assigned at birth. Transsexual individuals present a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders when compared to non-transsexual populations, and it has been proposed that minority stress, i.e., discrimination or prejudice, has...
Purpose: The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of each domain of gender affirmation (social, legal, and medical/surgical) on the mental health of transgender and gender non-binary youth.
Methods: Three hundred and fifty transgender boys, transgender girls, and gender non-binary Brazilian youth, from 16 to 24 years old, answered an online s...
Transgender and gender non-binary youth are particularly vulnerable to tobacco smoking and susceptible to smoking adverse health outcomes. That is, they are in special risk to start smoking and, after starting, they may face worse outcomes when comparing to their cisgender peers. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate factors associated with...
The present study explores data collected in the psychological evaluation of transgender youth and their families who seek healthcare at the Gender Identity Program. Great psychosocial changes mark the transition from infancy to adulthood. Transgender youth may have these aspects of their developmental stage potentialized. A study was conducted wit...
For transgender individuals, gender-affirming surgery (GAS) and cross-sex hormone therapy (CSHT) are part of the gender transition process. Scientific evidence supporting the maintenance of CSHT after GAS-related gonadectomy is accumulating. However, few data are available with respect to the impact of CSHT on brain structure following hypogonadism...
An extreme incongruence between sex and gender identity leads individuals with gender dysphoria (GD) to seek cross-sex hormone therapy (CSHT), and gender-affirming surgery (GAS). Although few studies have investigated the effects of CSHT on the brain prior to GAS, no studies in the extant literature have evaluated its impact during hypogonadism in...
The present study assessed the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in 90 transsexual men (female-to-male transsexual persons) from southern Brazil. A retrospective review of the medical records of all transsexual men who visited an outpatient clinic in Rio Grande do Sul from 1998 to 2017 was performed. Although the sample had a hig...
Introduction
Adolescent substance use is a major public health concern since it enhances adolescent morbidity and mortality, affecting adulthood health and well-being. Although current evidence shows a high risk for substance use among transgender populations, to date, few studies evaluate substance use among transgender youth.
Method
Brazilian tr...
Transgender people face unique challenges, such as structural, interpersonal, and individual vulnerabilities to chronic diseases. Stigma and prejudice may hamper their access to health care and prevent their inclusion in the labor market, as well as cause exposition to violence. Labor market exclusion contributes to engagement in survival sex work,...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00399.].
The aim of this study is to investigate HIV-related healthcare needs and access barriers for Brazilian transgender and gender diverse people. Data were collected from gender identity clinics and the questionnaire was also made available on the Internet. Out of the 543 participants—62.1% (n = 337) transgender women, 28.7 (n = 156) transgender men an...
Research involving transgender and gender diverse people (TGD) increased in the last years, mostly concerning healthcare associated to this population. Few studies dedicated their analysis to the impact of parental support on transgender people, even though this is an important aspect in creating a safe environment on which these individuals can bu...
Background: Transgender and gender diverse people (TGD) have specific healthcare needs and struggles with access barriers that should be addressed by public health systems. Our study aimed to address this topic in the Brazilian context.Methods: A hospital and web-based cross-sectional survey built with input from the medical and transgender communi...
Background: A history of childhood maltreatment (HCM) has been associated with detrimental psychiatric outcomes. This is particularly true for transgender, for whom there is initial evidence that HCM may be associated with psychiatric morbidity. Our study aimed to further characterize the relationship between HCM and the development of mental disor...
Introduction: Gender dysphoria (GD) (DMS-5) is a condition marked by increasing psychological suffering that accompanies the incongruence between one's experienced or expressed gender and one's assigned gender. Manifestation of GD can be seen early on during childhood and adolescence. During this period, the development of undesirable sexual charac...
Objective:
To compare the presence of criteria listed in the DSM-5 and ICD-10 diagnostic manuals in a Brazilian sample of transgender persons seeking health services specifically for physical transition.
Methods:
This multicenter cross-sectional study included a sample of 103 subjects who sought services for gender identity disorder in two main...
Voice is an important gender marker in the transition process as a transgender individual accepts a new gender identity. The objectives of this study were to describe and relate aspects of a perceptual-auditory analysis and the fundamental frequency (F0) of male-to-female (MtF) transsexual individuals. A case-control study was carried out with indi...
Objective:
To identify the effects of laryngeal surgical treatment in the voice of transgender women, especially on the fundamental frequency (f0).
Study design:
We performed a systematic review in PubMed and Scopus in July 2016, covering the period between 2005 and 2016.
Methods:
Inclusion criteria were studies in English or Portuguese about...
Background and purpose:
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 10 is a neurodegenerative disorder that is due to an expanded ATTCT repeat tract in the ATXN10 gene. Our aim was to describe clinical characteristics and intragenic haplotypes of patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 10 from Brazil and Peru.
Methods:
Expanded alleles were detected by repeat...
Introduction:
Transsexualism (ICD-10) is a condition characterized by a strong and persistent dissociation with one's assigned gender. Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and hormone therapy provide a means of allowing transsexual individuals to feel more congruent with their gender and have played a major role in treatment over the past 70 years. Brain...
Purpose: This study aimed to analyze rumination levels of transsexual women before and after gender affirmation surgery (GAS). Rumination scores may represent a broader measure of GAS success and an alternative to patient-reported satisfaction, quality of life, well-being, or the presence of “caseness” for anxiety or depression as previously establ...
Previous research has indicated that biological older brothers increase the odds of androphilia in males. This finding has been termed the fraternal birth order effect . The maternal immune hypothesis suggests that this effect reflects the progressive immunization of some mothers to male-specific antigens involved in fetal male brain masculinizatio...
Serum BDNF levels are significantly decreased in transsexual Brazilian women when compared to cis-sexual men. Since transsexual men are also exposed to chronic social stress and have a high prevalence of associated psychopathologies, it is plausible to inquire if BDNF serum levels are altered in transsexual men as well. Therefore, our objective was...
Historicamente, a psiquiatria ofereceu terapias conversivas aos indivíduos que apresentavam comportamentos sexuais diferentes dos comportamentos dos heterossexuais e identidade de gênero discordante do sexo atribuído ao nascimento. Tais condutas foram revistas, levando ao reconhecimento das necessidades específicas dessas pessoas. Atualmente, a prá...
Introduction
The 100-item World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL-100) evaluates quality of life as a subjective and multidimensional construct. Currently, particularly in Brazil, there are controversies concerning quality of life after sex reassignment surgery (SRS).
Aim
To assess the impact of surgical interventions on quali...
Gender dysphoria (GD) (DSM-5) or transsexualism (ICD-10) refers to the marked incongruity between the experience of one's gender and the sex at birth. In this case report, we describe the use of LSD as a triggering factor of confusion in the gender identity of a 39-year-old male patient, with symptoms of psychosis and 25 years of substance abuse, w...
Objectives:
The aim of the study was to verify the answers to the transsexual voice questionnaire for male-to-female transsexual (TVQ(MtF)) people given to individuals who participated in the Gender Identity Program (PROTIG) at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, in relation to some of their demographic characteristics, visual-percep...
The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review of articles that followed up the psychological outcomes of interventions in patients with disorders of sexual development. The analysis focused on the methodological quality of the studies and the assumptions on the evaluation of the intervention outcomes. The review signaled the need f...
This study assessed HIV prevalence and associated factors in 284 male-to-female transsexuals from southern Brazil. Seroprevalence was 25 %. Seroprevalence was higher and associated with older age, residence in the metropolitan area, history of diagnosis of other STDs, and reported history of sex work. The year of diagnosis showed no significant rel...
One monozygotic male twin pair discordant for transsexualism is described. Both twins were interviewed and tested with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale battery for cognitive functions and they underwent magnetic resonance imaging to measure the volumes of specific cerebral structures. Interviews with the twins and their mother indicated no unu...
A case of a hyperactive child with impaired speech, perceptual-motor capacity and interpersonal skills is presented. Presumptive diagnoses are discussed according to the international classifications most often used. The nature of pervasive developmental disorders is examined based on the concepts of theory of mind and theory of executive dysfuncti...