Assessing the impact of the doctor’s attire on the patient’s preference in a tertiary care health Institute

Objectives: This study aims to explore patients’ perception of the treating doctor based on their attire. Materials and Methods: This was a survey-based observational study conducted among patients and their attendants visiting a tertiary-level healthcare facility. After showing respondents the photograph of doctors in different attire, a questionnaire on their various aspects was given. Statistical analysis: All the data were entered in IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Statistics version 25.0, and descriptive analysis was done. Results: In this study, 1615 participants voluntarily submitted their responses to the survey. The maximum responses (60%) were collected from outpatient departments (OPDs), and the remaining (40%) from wards/ intensive care units or high dependency units. The maximum number of participants (47.10%) preferred treating doctors wearing scrub suits with white coats, 29.50% voted for formals with white coats as the preferred attire, 10.70% preferred doctors wearing only formals, and 10.30% preferred doctors in only a scrub suit. Additionally, 91.1% of the participants preferred that a doctor should wear a distinct name tag that mentions their name and designation clearly. Conclusions: An overwhelming response was in favor of doctors wearing professional attire, especially traditional white coats. The study reinforces that a physician’s attire is a cardinal and modifiable factor that impacts a patient’s satisfaction and comfort while being treated. Although attire cannot be a replacement for good clinical care, it still plays a crucial role in establishing a patient-doctor relationship by nurturing a sense of trust and confidence in a doctor’s capability.