Medical journal, Armed Forces India
May 2, 2025 · via Europe PMC
Understanding the attitude and perception of medical students toward LGBTQIA+ community.
Gupta O, Bobdey S, Bhatti VK.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Indian medical students showed notable transphobia and genderism, higher among males and rural students and lower among those with LGBTQIA+ contacts or education.
What was studied
Cross-sectional survey of 470 undergraduate medical students in western Maharashtra using the Genderism and Transphobia Scale.
Key findings
- Mean transphobia/genderism 115.58/175; gender bashing 40.79/49
- Males more inclined to gender bashing
- LGBTQIA+ contacts and educational exposure associated with greater tolerance
Clinical relevance
This supports including LGBTQIA+ health education in medical curricula.
Who should care
Limitations
Single college; self-report.
Education and contact reduce bias among medical students toward LGBTQIA+ people.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Background
In India, various minority groups still face centuries-old practices of inequality. One such community that lacks social acceptance in society is the LGBTQIA+ community. The objective of our study was to assess the perceptions and attitudes of medical students toward the LGBTQIA+ community.
Methods
The study was conducted among undergraduate students of a medical college in western Maharashtra. Data were collected using the Genderism and Transphobia Scale (GTS), a 32-question survey on Transphobia, Genderism, and Gender Bashing developed by Hill & Willoughby (2005). Participants completed the questionnaire via Google Forms. The collected data were recorded in a computerized spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel) and analyzed using SPSS software version 26.0.
Results
The study involved 470 undergraduate participants, consisting of 367 males and 103 females. Of these participants, 68.94% were aged between 19 and 21 years, 89.36% were Hindu by religion, and 71.91% were from urban areas. The mean score for transphobia and genderism was 115.58 ± 28.85 (min 25 and max 175) and the median score was 116, while the mean score for gender bashing was 40.79 ± 8.52 (min 7 and max 49), and the median score was 44. The study found that males were more inclined towards gender bashing. Males and students from rural backgrounds exhibited higher levels of transphobia and genderism. Students who spent more time on social media, while those with friends or relatives from the LGBTQIA+ community and those who have attended any lecture/seen a documentary related to the LGBTQIA+ community were more tolerant toward the LGBTQIA+ community and less likely to engage in gender bashing.
Conclusion
Among all the professions, doctors must be gender-neutral to treat all patients equally and without bias. The study results indicate that medical students have a bias toward the LGBTQIA+ community, highlighting the need for information, education, and communication (IEC) campaigns to increase social acceptance and sensitivity toward the needs of the community.
DOI
10.1016/j.mjafi.2024.10.018
PMID
42491843
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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