Parent Preferences for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Physician Attire: A Cross-Sectional Study

Parul Cham; Naomi Laventhal; Heather Burrows; Vineet Chopra; Gary M. Weiner

doi:10.1055/s-0041-1732419

American Journal of Perinatology, Table of Contents

Am J Perinatol 2023; 40(08): 898-905
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1732419

Original Article

Parent Preferences for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Physician Attire: A Cross-Sectional Study

Parul Cham

¹Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan

,

Naomi Laventhal

¹Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan

²University of Michigan, Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan

,

Heather Burrows

³Division of General and Ambulatory Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan

,

Vineet Chopra

⁴Division of Hospital Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan

⁵Department of Internal Medicine, Veterans Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan

,

Gary M. Weiner

¹Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Objective Physician attire may influence the parent-provider relationship. Previous studies in adult and outpatient pediatrics showed that formal attire with a white coat was preferred. We aimed to describe parent preferences for physician attire in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Study Design We surveyed 101 parents in a level IV NICU. The survey included photographs of a physician in seven different attires. Attire was scored in five domains and parents selected the most preferred attire in different contexts. All attires were compared with formal attire with white coat. Descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact tests, and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare parent responses.

Results Scrubs without white coat (40.8 [7.0]) and formal attire without white coat (39.7 [8.0]) had the highest mean (standard deviation) composite preference scores. However, no significant differences between formal attire with white coat (37.1 [9.0]) versus any other attire were observed. When asked to choose a single most preferred attire, scrubs with a coat (32%) and formal with a coat (32%) were chosen most often, but preferences varied by clinical context and parent age. For example, parents preferred surgical scrubs for physicians performing procedures. Parents indicated that physician attire is important to them but does not influence their satisfaction with care.

Conclusion Although parents generally favored formal attire and scrubs, the variations based on the context of care and lack of significant preference of one attire suggests that a single dress code policy for physicians in a NICU is unlikely to improve the patient-provider relationship.

Key Points

Adult patients prefer doctors to wear formal attire.
Physician attire preferences influenced by age, setting, and context of care.
Little is known about physician attire preferences of the parents of neonates.
Unlike adult patients, NICU parents did not prefer formal attire with a white coat.

Keywords

neonatal intensive care unit - physician attire - patient preference - physician and patient relations

Full Text

References

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