RESUMEN
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Few studies address the impact of physician attire on ratings of personality characteristics in the presence of varied physician demographic characteristics (gender, racial/ethnic background). Even fewer have examined the boundaries of acceptable physician attire, given recent loosening of societal standards of dress. METHODS: Using an online survey methodology, adult participants (N=505; 45% medical professionals) were recruited. Participants rated target photos depicting a male and female individual from three ethnic/racial categories each dressed in business casual (with and without a white coat) or in professional attire (with and without a white coat) on a number of personality characteristics. General willingness to have physicians wear certain apparel items was also queried, as was the importance/acceptability of specific clothing items and appearance choices. Responses were analyzed by gender, age, ethnicity, and profession of respondent. RESULTS: Both business casual and professional attire were rated highly. A name tag had the highest ratings for importance of wear. The results for wearing a white coat were not as consistent as earlier studies as physicians were perceived as warmer and kinder when not wearing a lab coat, particularly with professional attire. However, female Caucasian physicians were rated most positively when wearing a lab coat. Consistent with previous studies, attire that was too casual (jeans, t-shirts) was rated negatively. CONCLUSIONS: The current study supports the notion that rules of attire are changing, even in the physician's office. Name tags were perceived to be crucial in medical settings, and casual clothing should be avoided. Despite often being considered a defining component of a physician's "uniform," the white lab coat may not be a universal positive and perhaps even a negative for some physicians.
Asunto(s)
Vestuario , Demografía , Prioridad del Paciente/psicología , Médicos Mujeres/psicología , Médicos/psicología , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
Family physicians play an important role in identifying and treating the behavioral etiologies of morbidity and mortality. Changing behavior is a challenging process that begins with identifying a patient's readiness to change. Interventions, such as motivational interviewing, are used to increase a patient's desire to change, and cognitive behavioral therapy can be initiated to increase a patient's likelihood of change, particularly if barriers are identified. After patients embark on change, family physicians are uniquely positioned to connect them to self-help programs, more intensive psychotherapy, and newer technology-based support programs, and to provide repeated, brief, positive reinforcement. Specific behavioral interventions that can be effective include computerized smoking cessation programs; electronic reminders and support delivered by family physicians or other clinicians for weight loss; linkage to community-based programs for seniors; increased length and demands of in-school programs to support exercise participation by children; and access reduction education to prevent firearm injury.
Asunto(s)
Terapia Conductista/organización & administración , Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria/organización & administración , Conductas Relacionadas con la Salud , Conducta , Comunicación , Conducta Cooperativa , MotivaciónRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that has a major impact on health-related quality of life (QOL). We evaluated health-related QOL via willingness to pay and a ranking task for 8 domains of health relevant to psoriasis: intimacy, physical comfort, self-care, ability to work or volunteer, ability to concentrate, emotional health, social comfort, and ability to sleep. OBJECTIVE: The goals of the study were to pilot test a new method to measure QOL impact in psoriasis and identify the areas of life most affected by psoriasis. METHODS: Forty participants with a history of psoriasis were interviewed in a face-to-face format. First, participants were asked to rank the 8 domains of health we were investigating. Second, patients were asked how much money they would be willing to pay for a hypothetical cure for each domain of health. Responses in US dollars were interpreted as strength of preference rather than absolute monetary values. RESULTS: About half of the patients in the sample (48%) were female, 60% had a college degree or further education, and 38% had an income level over $45,000/y. Physical comfort, social comfort, and emotional health were highly ranked by more than 75% of respondents. Ability to concentrate was least likely to be affected by psoriasis with just a quarter (25.7%) of respondents ranking this domain as important. The median amount patients were willing to pay for a hypothetical cure of psoriasis specific to a particular domain was highest for physical comfort ($2000, 25th quartile = $500, 75th quartile = $5500) and emotional health ($2000, 25th quartile = $250, 75th quartile = $5000), and lowest for ability to sleep ($625, 25th quartile = $50, 75th quartile = $5000). LIMITATIONS: The sample size is modest for this pilot study. Willingness to pay as a method of eliciting stated preferences for qualitative aspects of health may be influenced by individual perception of money. CONCLUSIONS: This study successfully pilot tested a willingness-to-pay method and a ranking task to measure the relative severity of 8 domains of health-related QOL and found that physical comfort, social comfort, and emotional health were the domains of health most affected by psoriasis.