Physician Attire and Appreciation of Physician Communication in Postpartum Women

Patient Satisfaction Clinical Trial

Official title:

Physician Attire and Appreciation of Physician Communication in Postpartum Women

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03403660
• Other study ID #: IRB 17-0096
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: December 20, 2017
• Last updated: January 31, 2018
• Start date: May 1, 2017
• Est. completion date: June 16, 2017

Study information

• Verified date: January 2018
• Source: The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Wearing white coat during hospital rounds has been associated with increased risk of colonization and transmission of resistant pathogens. On the other hand, studies have shown that physicians' attire affects patients' confidence in their physician and the patient-physician relationship. The results of these studies were highly dependent on the practice setting, with no data in postpartum patients.

The objective is to test the hypothesis that not wearing a white coat during physician postpartum rounds impact patient-physician communication scores.

Description:

Patient satisfaction is an important measure of quality of care. One of the most important variables in patients satisfaction scores is the physician communication skills. There have been several studies evaluating different strategies to improve the patient perceptions of patient - physician communication including delayed physician rounds, improvement of handoff strategies, and family centered rounds. Additionally, research has shown that patients develop a first impression of their physician based on the physician's verbal and nonverbal communication, including the clothing and cleanliness. Patient - physician communication scores not only have an impact on patient care, but are also now linked to Medicare reimbursements.

White coats have been widely used in the medical profession, however some physicians believe that this can be a nonverbal barrier to patient's interaction. Prior studies on the impact of physician attire have reported conflicting results. In a survey published by Cha et al, obstetric and gynecologic patients seen in the outpatient clinic preferred that the resident use white coats. Another study showed that patients favor the use of white coat in the Internal Medicine outpatient clinic which may favorably influence trust and confidence in the medical encounter.

No randomized controlled trial has been published on the impact of the use of white coat on patient - physician communication scores in the postpartum patients. This trial's primary outcome is to evaluate the impact of physician attire (specifically wearing white coat) during postpartum rounds on "patient - physician communication" scores.

This study is a randomized controlled trial performed in postpartum patients to evaluate the impact of not wearing white coat during rounds on "patient - physician communication" scores.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 178
• Est. completion date: June 16, 2017
• Est. primary completion date: June 16, 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 18 Years to 50 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Maternal age = 18 years and <50 years

• Patient admitted to postpartum floor at University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)

• Patient care managed by obstetric physicians during the postpartum period.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patient admitted to ICU

• Delivery resulting in stillbirth Patient not fluent in Spanish and/or English

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Patient Satisfaction

Intervention

Other:
• non White coat
Postpartum patients are randomized to either arm of the study (white coat or standard scrub suit only) by location. All the obstetric physicians associated with patient's postpartum care should use or not use white coat in every single encounter with patient.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Universty of Texas Medical Branch	Galveston	Texas

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Patient - physician communication score	Obtained from the three Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) questions.	24 to 120 hours
Secondary	Hospital rating scores	Obtained from one question of the HCAHPS survey	24 to 120 hours
Secondary	Recommending the hospital to friends and family	Obtained from one question of the HCAHPS survey	24 to 120 hours
Secondary	Physician attire rating score	Rated from 1 to 4	24 to 120 hours
Secondary	White coat use	Patient answer if she remember or not if their physician were using white coat.	24 to 120 hours