TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of physician attire on patients’ impression of their gynecologist
T2 - Results from a large single-center survey analysis
AU - Carugno, Jose
AU - Timmons, Douglas
AU - Grady, Mary
AU - Lederer, Madeline
AU - Rapisarda, Agnese Maria Chiara
AU - Laganà, Antonio Simone
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/11
Y1 - 2020/11
N2 - Objective: To assess the impact of physician attire in a gynecology office setting on a patient's level of trust and perception regarding medical advice, performing vaginal exams, and physician's ability to perform major and minor procedures. Study design: Cross sectional anonymous survey at a large academic medical center. The survey was distributed to 200 patients of a single-physician gynecology office, between January 1st 2018 and March 31st 2018. The survey contained an image depicting a hypothetical gynecologist and hypothetical questions regarding clinical situations. Participants were asked to answer which doctor from the image shown they preferred for a given scenario. Results: White coat was reported to be preferred physician attire in almost every clinical situation (p < 0.05). There were only two clinical scenarios, a gynecologic emergency (p < 0.01) and in the setting of major surgery (p < 0.07), in which patients did not have a preference for the gynecologist wearing a white coat. Attire did not have a significant effect on respondent's perception of the gynecologist's knowledge, level of compassion, authority, or ability to communicate. Conclusion: The majority of patients preferred a physician wearing a white coat in the presented gynecologic scenarios, with the exception of gynecologic emergencies and gynecologic surgery, in which surgical scrubs were preferred.
AB - Objective: To assess the impact of physician attire in a gynecology office setting on a patient's level of trust and perception regarding medical advice, performing vaginal exams, and physician's ability to perform major and minor procedures. Study design: Cross sectional anonymous survey at a large academic medical center. The survey was distributed to 200 patients of a single-physician gynecology office, between January 1st 2018 and March 31st 2018. The survey contained an image depicting a hypothetical gynecologist and hypothetical questions regarding clinical situations. Participants were asked to answer which doctor from the image shown they preferred for a given scenario. Results: White coat was reported to be preferred physician attire in almost every clinical situation (p < 0.05). There were only two clinical scenarios, a gynecologic emergency (p < 0.01) and in the setting of major surgery (p < 0.07), in which patients did not have a preference for the gynecologist wearing a white coat. Attire did not have a significant effect on respondent's perception of the gynecologist's knowledge, level of compassion, authority, or ability to communicate. Conclusion: The majority of patients preferred a physician wearing a white coat in the presented gynecologic scenarios, with the exception of gynecologic emergencies and gynecologic surgery, in which surgical scrubs were preferred.
KW - Gynecology
KW - Patient perception
KW - Patient trust
KW - Physician attire
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2020.09.040
DO - 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2020.09.040
M3 - Article
C2 - 33035822
AN - SCOPUS:85091907763
VL - 254
SP - 266
EP - 270
JO - European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
JF - European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
SN - 0028-2243
ER -