Research in Medicine

Background: The patient- physician relationship is one of the most important cues in medial practice. How a physician dresses and how she/he addresses the patients are two important factors in developing rapport. This study was conducted to determine patient's preference for the style of the psychiatrists dressing and addressing.

Materials and methods: This descriptive study was peformed at the psychiatric clinics of a general hospital. The patients who were intended to take part in the study were selected and their demographic data disorder type and disorder duration were recorded. Photos demonstrating 8 different styles of dressing (four for female physicians and four for male, based on Iranian culture) were shown to the patients and they were asked to select their desired style, meanwhile, they were requested to nominate the way they preferred to be addressed.

 Results: The study population included 57 females and 53 males with the mean age of 30+10.5 years. Results revealed that white coat was the most popular for both male and female psychiatrists (41.8 and 40.9 percent, respectively, pO.Ol). Thirty nine patients (35.5%) preferred to be addressed only by their first name, however, it was not important for 34.5% (p<0.0l). The psychiatrists' gender was not important for 58 patients (52.7%)(p<0.01).

 Conclusion: The psychiatrists style of dressing is important for psychiatric patients though it is not being paid much attention at psychiatric wards. It seems that paying further attention to this aspect will improve patient-physician relationship.