A systematic review demonstrated flaws in measurement of regret rates across all studies.

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A systematic review of regret rates across 27 studies1 showed that every study had insufficient follow-up time and/or high drop-out rates, which seriously compromise the reliability of the data on regret rates. The review’s authors describe this as a “moderate to high” risk of bias. They also note that definitions of regret and methods of measuring it are variable, and that participants may feel shame or fear of judgement and so conceal their regret. These factors combine to make the regret rate reported in the study unreliable.

  1. Bustos VP, Bustos SS, Mascaro A, Del Corral G, Forte AJ, Ciudad P, Kim EA, Langstein HN, Manrique OJ. Regret after Gender-affirmation Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prevalence. Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery Global Open. 2021 Mar 19;9(3):e3477. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000003477. Erratum in: Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2022 Apr 28;10(4):e4340. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000004340. PMID: 33968550; PMCID: PMC8099405. ↩︎
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