Doctor's attire influences perceived empathy in the patient–doctor relationship

Chung, Heesu; Lee, Hyeyeon; Chang, D-S; Kim, Ho-Sun; Lee, Hyejung; Park, Hi-Joon; Chae, Younbyoung

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2012.02.017

Cited by 73 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…While some patients prefer the white coat for its ability to inspire confidence and ease communication [7,11] others feel it is an important means of identification distinct from the name tag [1] . Patients in our study cohort felt the surgeon's wearing white coats appeared more experienced and caring overall, a finding which has been shown in previous studies [10][11][12] . 'Patients also chose the white coat wearing surgeons as the ones they would be most comfortable with discussing personal issues, following advice and returning to in the event of a complication'.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Exploring Patients Perceptions of Their Surgeon Based on Attire

Wood¹,

Lalonde²,

Cudd³

et al. 2017

JAS

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BackgroundSurgeons and residents at Queen's University affiliated hospitals wear a wide range of attire when performing clinical duties. With the absence of a dress code policy, health care practitioners have been observed wearing anything from shorts and sneakers to full business suit attire. The long white lab coat, a distinctive article which was once a staple in modern physician attire, has gradually been phased out, unpopular amongst newer medical graduates. A recent study in the UK demonstrated infection risk and heat factors to be the most commonly quoted reasons why more and more doctors have chosen to abandon the white coat [1] . Among health care providers, the topic of physician attire has long been discussed as an important factor in the patient's first impression of their doctor. As far back as the era of Hippocrates, certain benchmarks were set by the profession and physicians were advised to "be clean in person, well-dressed, and anointed with sweet smelling unguents" [2] . However, results of contempo- AbstractBackground: Physician attire is an important factor in the patient's first impression of their doctor. The purpose of this study is to determine how different forms of attire impact patient perceptions of their physicians within our orthopaedic clinics. Methods: A survey was distributed to new patients visiting an orthopedic surgery clinic within a 9 month span at a Canadian outpatient hospital. Each participant also received either a male or female photo sheet depicting 6 different forms of physician attire: Surgical scrubs and white coat, surgical scrubs alone, formal wear with white coat, formal wear alone, business suit and casual wear. Demographic data and general questions related to surgeon's attire as well as specific questions pertaining to the pictures provided were collected. Results: 100 patients responded to the survey. Most respondents agreed that physician attire was important and they expected their surgeon to be dressed professionally. Respondents felt strongly that there was an association between how a physician dressed and their perceived ability to dispense care. There was a significant preference for the surgeons wearing a white coat. The least favored surgeon attire overall was casual wear.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Exploring Patients Perceptions of Their Surgeon Based on Attire

Wood¹,

Lalonde²,

Cudd³

et al. 2017

JAS

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“…Regardless of the physician's appearance, attributes such as demeanor, empathy, tone of voice, hygiene, and even smiling, will shape a patient's perception of his or her doctor [1,3,6,17,23]. One of the proven and changeable factors that contribute to the first impression and overall patient trust and confidence is the attire of the physician.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For professional and hygienic reasons, the debate has persisted regarding the most appropriate clothing and how this may affect the patient-physician relationship. Numerous studies have confirmed the strong influence of physician attire on communication, patient education, confidence, trust, respect, adherence to medical treatments, and ultimately the quality of care patients receive [6,7,15,22,23]. Although concepts such as trust and confidence are complex and likely involve many other factors such as respect and good communication, previous studies in settings outside orthopaedics have confirmed attire influences these variables [2,12,16,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although concepts such as trust and confidence are complex and likely involve many other factors such as respect and good communication, previous studies in settings outside orthopaedics have confirmed attire influences these variables [2,12,16,23]. Furthermore, attire is one of the few changeable factors proven to have an influence on the patient's first impression [6,18]. The white coat has been standard physician attire since the late 19th century and historically has been preferred over scrubs, formal, and casual dress in various outpatient settings [10,15,16,18,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physicians’ Attire Influences Patients’ Perceptions in the Urban Outpatient Orthopaedic Surgery Setting

Jennings

Ciaravino

Ramsey

et al. 2016

Clinical Orthopaedics &Amp; Related Research

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Background Previous work has established that physician attire influences patients' perceptions of their physicians. However, research from different specialties has disagreed regarding what kinds of physician attire might result in increased trust and confidence on the part of patients. Questions/Purposes The purpose of this study was to investigate how surgeon attire affects patients' perceptions of trust and confidence in an urban orthopaedic outpatient setting. Methods Eighty-five of 100 patients solicited completed a three-part questionnaire in the outpatient orthopaedic clinic at an urban teaching hospital. In the first section, participants viewed eight images, four of a male surgeon and four of a female surgeon wearing a white coat over formal attire, scrubs, business attire, and casual attire, and rated each image on a five-level Likert scale. Participants were asked how confident, trustworthy, safe, caring, and smart the surgeon appeared, how well the surgery would go, and how willing they would be to discuss personal information with the pictured surgeon. The participant ranked all images from most to least confident in the second part and the last section obtained demographic information from the patients. Surveys were scored using a five-level Likert scale and a Friedman test was used to detect statistical significance when comparing all attires. Similarly, the white coat was preferred to casual attire in all categories (confidence: MD, 0.810 ± 0.921; smart: MD, 0.493 ± 0.801; surgical skill: MD, 0.640 ± 0.880; ability to discuss: MD, 0.564 ± 0.988; trust: MD, 0.545 ± 0.836; safety: MD, 0.581 ± 0.860; caring: MD, 0.479 ± 0.852; p \ 0.001 for all comparisons). For the female surgeon, white coat and scrubs were not different, however the white coat was preferred to business attire in four of seven categories. Casual clothing was widely disliked in all categories for surgeons (men and women). When attire was compared for confidence on a scale, the white coat ranked Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article. All ICMJE Conflict of Interest Forms for authors and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research 1 editors and board members are on file with the publication and can be viewed on request. Each author certifies that his or her institution approved or waived approval for the human protocol for this investigation and that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research. This study was performed at

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“…Maruani et al (2013) noted the physicians who dress casually degrade their credibility with patients. Similarly, Chung et al (2012) reported that doctors who dressed in a casual manner were rated as having less empathy for the patient than those dressed in a traditional white coat. Saiki (2013) reported that job seekers who dress casually for an employment interview hurt their chances of landing the job.…”

Section: Millenia: the Extension Of The Counter Culture Of The 60s Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

It Can’t Be Like It Used to Be: Informality as a Contagion of Democratization in American Culture

Hickson¹,

III²,

Powell³

2016

JMC

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The authors" purpose is to illustrate that counter cultures follow changes in democracy. While allowing more political freedom for individuals, such freedom is expressed by overtaking those rules, taboos, and mores that previously were followed when the minorities lacked that freedom. Changes occur in such topics as sexual mores, aesthetic appreciation of music, and the media. Beginning in the 1950s, American culture has changed dramatically because of changes in politics and the media. While not suggesting that this is good or bad, the authors profess that it is inevitable.

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Doctor's attire influences perceived empathy in the patient–doctor relationship

Cited by 73 publications

References 47 publications

Exploring Patients Perceptions of Their Surgeon Based on Attire

Exploring Patients Perceptions of Their Surgeon Based on Attire

Physicians’ Attire Influences Patients’ Perceptions in the Urban Outpatient Orthopaedic Surgery Setting

It Can’t Be Like It Used to Be: Informality as a Contagion of Democratization in American Culture

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