QUALITY OF LIFE ACROSS SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS AMONG TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS IN KASHMIR: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background. Transgender individuals in the region of Kashmir face deeply entrenched stigma and discrimination, which is further entrenched by cultural, religious and institutional structures and manifests in numerous forms of harassment. However, there is a lack of empirical data and insight into how such experiences and social determinants may affect the quality of life of transgenders living within these unique cultural and socio-cultural settings.

Methods. A purposive and snowball sampling was used to recruit 200 transgender individuals across the Kashmir in a cross-sectional survey. The quality of life was determined by the use of the WHOQOL-BREF (1996) that provides a score in four domains, namely, physical health, psychological health, social relationships and environment. JAMOVI and IBM SPSS 26 were used to run descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U test, independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA with GamesHowell post hoc comparisons.

Results. Participants reported uniformly low to moderate QoL across all domains, with social relationships (M = 1.80) and environment (M = 1.83) showing the lowest mean scores. Trans male participants reported significantly lower QoL than trans female participants across all domains (all p ≤ 0.005). Urban residence was associated with better QoL in most domains. Age, living arrangement and income level each produced significant between-group differences; the youngest age group and the lowest income group consistently demonstrated the poorest outcomes across all domains.

The participants indicated that the QoL was consistently low to moderate in all domains, with the lowest mean scores of social relationships (M = 1.80) and environment (M = 1.83). Trans male respondents had a significantly lower QoL than trans female respondents across all the domains (all p ≤ 0.005). The association of urban residence with improved QoL was indicated in most domains. The age, living arrangement and income level all yielded significant between-group differences; the youngest age group and the lowest income group demonstrated the poorest results across all domains.

Conclusions. Transgender individuals in Kashmir constitute a population at elevated risk for compromised QoL, particularly in the social and environmental spheres. The findings highlight the intersecting roles of gender identity, socioeconomic position, urban–rural disparity, age and living arrangement in shaping well-being. Gender-affirming policies and anti-discriminatory policies against discrimination are imperative, and reforms of inclusive policy should also be made to enhance the outcomes of this immensely marginalized population.