The Effect of an Orthopedic Hand Surgeon's Attire on Patient Confidence and Trust

Background: Multiple studies have concluded that patients are more likely to understand and trust physicians who dress in more formal attire (shirt and tie) as opposed to casual attire (t-shirts and jeans). The white coat has repeatedly been reported as a major source of trust and confidence in a patient's eyes. Methods: This study explores the effect an orthopedic hand surgeon's attire has on a patient's perception of their surgeon's clinical values. All patients 18 years of age and older who visited our orthopedic hand surgeon's suburban outpatient practice were asked to participate in our survey-based study. Results: Ninety-seven surveys were completed and included. A majority of our responders are female (n = 59, 60.8%), Caucasian (n = 83, 85.6%) between the ages of 55 and 74 years (n = 40, 41.2%), currently employed (n = 59, 60.8%) with private health insurance (n = 69, 71.1%), and married (n = 64, 66.0%). Patients rated male and female hand surgeons wearing a white coat highest using the Likert scale and when asked about their perceived clinical qualities. Patients consistently poorly rated their surgeons wearing casual attire. Patients did note that the white coat, or any specific attire, was not necessary during the initial encounter to build a strong patient-surgeon relationship. Finally, goatees and beards do not positively or negatively impact a surgeon's patient-constructed image. Conclusions: Combining strong clinical skills with appropriate clinical attire highlighted by the physician wearing a white coat appears to be an effective way to enhance patient satisfaction while ultimately gaining the trust and respect needed to properly care for patients.

Effects of Gender and Dress on Helping Behavior

The effects of gender and dress on helping behavior were examined. Perceptions and feelings influencing decisions to help were also investigated in an exploratory manner. 128 subjects were asked by a male or female confederate for 37¢ and afterwards completed a questionnaire. The confederates were either well-dressed or sloppily dressed. Analysis indicated that the woman was helped more than the man but that well-dressed and sloppily dressed confederates were helped equally. Subjects who helped generally perceived confederates to be needier than subjects who did not. Further, subjects who did not help reported greater discomfort from the helping request than subjects who helped.

Leadership and Ethics in Work Groups

This study explored the relationship between leadership style and individual ethics in work groups. We present a model of how active leadership affects conformity in members’ ethical decision frameworks (formalism and utilitarianism). We tested this model by examining 36 work groups over a 12-week period. Results supported the hypothesis that more active leadership would lead to greater conformity in both types of ethical frameworks. A second hypothesis, that group cohesion would mediate this relationship between leadership style and ethical conformity, was partially supported. Implications of these findings for leadership, groups, and ethics research are discussed.

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

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated whether doctors' attire influences the perception of empathy in the patient-doctor relationship during a therapeutic encounter.

METHODS

A total number of 143 patients were divided into four groups when they were consulting a Traditional Korean Medicine doctor. Depending on the group, the same doctor was wearing four different attires--Casual, Suit, Traditional dress, White coat--when having a clinical consultation with the patients.

RESULTS

The patients preferred white coat and traditional dress more than other attires, giving highest scores to white coat in competency, trustworthiness and preference of attire and to traditional dress in comfortableness and contentment with the consultation. The "Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE)" score was significantly higher in the "White coat" and "Traditional" groups, compared to the "Casual" and "Suit" groups.

CONCLUSION

The strong association between the patients' preference of doctors' attire and the CARE score indicates that the doctor's attire plays not only an important role for establishing confidence and trustworthiness but also for the perception of empathy in the patient-doctor relationship.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The doctor's attire can function as an effective tool of non-verbal communication in order to signal confidence, trust and empathy and establish a good patient-doctor relationship.

Perceptions of outpatients regarding the attire of physiotherapists

PURPOSE

This study investigated perceptions of patients regarding physiotherapists' attire.

METHODS

Three hundred patients in three publicly funded outpatient physiotherapy clinics were asked to complete a questionnaire, ranking four photographed modes of attire (lab coat, tailored dress, "scrubs," and jeans) in terms of professionalism, preference, and appropriateness and rating their level of agreement with four statements about physiotherapists' attire.

RESULTS

Response rate was 63.7 %. The lab coat was ranked most professional, tailored dress most preferred, and jeans least professional and least preferred. Although jeans were deemed inappropriate (p < 0.001), strong support was shown for wearing jeans on "casual day" (p = 0.001). Age of respondents influenced the perception of the appropriateness of wearing jeans (p = 0.007 for male therapist; p = 0.017 for female therapist); only the cohort <36 years considered jeans appropriate apparel. Overall exposure to physiotherapists (number of lifetime visits) affected patients' perceptions of the importance of attire (p = 0.039) and the appropriateness of wearing jeans (p = 0.018): as number of visits increased, perceived importance decreased and perceived propriety of jeans increased.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study, the first to examine patients' opinions of physiotherapists' attire, suggest that outpatients made clear distinctions between what they perceived as professional and what they preferred, as well as between the appropriateness of physiotherapists' wearing jeans in general and the appropriateness of their doing so on "casual day." Age and exposure to physiotherapists influenced patients' perceptions of attire.

Solicitation by e-mail and solicitor's status: a field study of social influence on the web

Personal information is scarce in computer-mediated communication. So when information about the sender is attached with his or her e-mail, this could induce a powerful effect toward the receptor. Two experiments were carried out where males and females were solicited by e-mail to respond to a survey on their foods habits. In the first experiment, students were solicited whereas, in the second experiment, people taken at random in various e-mails lists were solicited. The questionnaire was an HTML form attached with the e-mail. The signature of the solicitor was presented as of a high status (a scientist) or of a mid status (an undergraduate student). Results show that, in both experiments, subjects agreed more favorably to the request when the solicitor was of high status. The importance of social information on computer-mediated communication is used to explain such results.