Influence of White Coat During Family Medicine Consultation: Interventional Study

NCT03965416 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2018.02
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 286
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Introduction: The white coat is a physician attire worn since the antiquity time. Several studies in other countries have shown that it influences doctor-patient's relationship and that there is some kind of preference over what a doctor should wear. In Portugal there are few data on this subject. Objectives: Investigate the influence of the white coat on satisfaction, confidence and empathy in relation to patients. Secondly, its impact on what patients perceive about medical knowledge, patients' opinions about medical clothing, and the level of satisfaction and comfort of physicians in consultation with or without the use of a white coat. Methods: An interventional study with a quasi-randomized representative sample of the population attending the health centers belonging to ARS Centro, consisting of 286 participants. The investigators collaborated with 16 doctors, male and female and of different ages which usually wore white coat in their medical appointments. The investigators included the first and last patients in consultation every day for 10 consecutive days, and every other day the doctor consulted with the use of a white coat or without the use of a white coat. At the end of the consultation, a questionnaire was distributed to the patient. This questionnaire had simple questions with a Lickert scale response, the portuguese version of the scale "Trust in physician" to assess the trust in the physician, both globally and in the medical-patient's relationship and their medical competences, and the JSPPPE-VP scale to evaluate empathy. A questionnaire was also distributed to the physician in which the doctor indicated what type of attire that used on that appointment and how satisfied and comfortable was with the consultation.

Conditions

Communication

Keywords

White Coat; Communication; Physician - Patient Relationship; Satisfaction; Trust; Competence; Empathy; Knowledge

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Patient's satisfaction: rating

  A question about patient's satisfaction with the consultation rating from 0 to 4.

  30 minutes

• Trust

  The use of the "Trust in physician" scale to evaluate patient trust in the medical-patient's relationship and in their medical competences.

  30 minutes

• Empathy

  Empathy in the medical-patient's relationship evaluated through the Jefferson scale.

  30 minutes

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Doctor's knowledge

  30 minutes

• Doctor's satisfaction: question

  30 minutes

• Doctor's comfort: question

  30 minutes

Study Arms (2)

Doctor with white coat

EXPERIMENTAL

Doctor during consultation is wearing a white coat

Other: White Coat

Doctor without white coat

EXPERIMENTAL

Doctor during consultation is not wearing a white coat

Other: Without White Coat

Interventions

White Coat OTHER

We included the first and last patients in consultation every day for 10 consecutive days, and every other day the doctor consulted with the use of a white coat or without the use of a white coat.

Doctor with white coat

Without White Coat OTHER

We included the first and last patients in consultation every day for 10 consecutive days, and every other day the doctor consulted with the use of a white coat or without the use of a white coat.

Doctor without white coat

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• A sample of 286 patients, of both sexes, of different ages and from health centers in both urban and rural areas belonging to the ARS Center was studied.

You may not qualify if:

• Age less than 18 years (in these cases the questionnaire can be answered by your companion).
• Illiterate patients.
• Patients whose general condition did not allow them to correctly answer the questionnaire presented.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Coimbra: lead

Study Sites (1)

ARS Centro

Coimbra, Portugal

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Marques Caetano Carreira L, Dinis S, Correia A, Pereira A, Belo R, Madanelo I, Brito D, Gomes R, Monteiro L, Correia G, Maia C, Marques T, Sousa R, Abreu D, Matias C, Constantino L, Rosendo I. Does the white coat influence satisfaction, trust and empathy in the doctor-patient relationship in the General and Family Medicine consultation? Interventional study. BMJ Open. 2021 Dec 22;11(12):e031887. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031887.

  PMID: 34937710 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Communication; Personal Satisfaction

Interventions

White Coat tooth coating material

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Leonor Carreira

  University of Coimbra

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Student

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 22, 2019
• First Posted: May 29, 2019
• Study Start: November 1, 2018
• Primary Completion: February 28, 2019
• Study Completion: February 28, 2019
• Last Updated: May 29, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

PT (1)