IMPACT OF GOWNING ON VISIT LENGTH AND PHYSICAL-EXAMINATION

We evaluated the effect of a randomized trial of gowning on length of visit and number of physical examinations performed in an outpatient c linic. Nineteen senior internal medicine trainees saw 110 patients wit hout gowns and 113 patients with gowns. Patients without gowns were wi th the trainees 25.2 +/- 11.9 (mean a SD) minutes versus 2 2.2 +/- 10. 3 minutes for gowned patients (p = .51), Ungowned patients were in the examination room a total of 38.5 +/- 15.9 minutes versus 42.9 +/- 17. 6 minutes for gowned patients (p = .06), The number of patients that u nderwent physical examinations was the same (89) for gowned and ungown ed groups, and the distribution of the number of examinations by patie nt group differed only slightly (p = .88), Gowning did not significant ly decrease the length of visit or increase the number of physical exa minations performed.