Patients' attitude toward consultations by a physician without a white coat in Japan

Object To know how Japanese patients perceive their physicians without a wh ite coat during consultations. Subjects and Methods The patients who visite d a university clinic were divided into two groups: those seen by a physici an in a white coat (the white-coat group) and those seen by a physician in private clothes (the private-clothes group). Questionnaires were distribute d to the patients, which asked the tension and satisfaction of consultation s as well as their preference for physician's attire. The answers of the wh ite-coat group were compared with those of the private-clothes group. Resul ts The percentage of new patients who felt tense during consultations was g reater in the white-coat group (42%) than in the private-clothes group (33% ), Seventy-one percent of the patients in the white-coat group preferred ph ysicians in a white coat whereas only 39% preferred so in the private-cloth es group (p<0.0001). However, the degree of patients' satisfaction for the consultation showed no statistical difference between the groups. Sixty-nin e percent of the patients older than or equal to 70 years preferred a white coat while 52 percent of the patients younger than 70 years preferred so ( p=0.002). Conclusion Physician's white coats did not influence the satisfac tion with the consultations for most Japanese patients in a university clin ic, although elderly patients as well as those seen by a physician in a whi te coat tended to prefer the white coat to the private clothes, Furthermore , practice without a white coat might reduce patients' tension during their first consultation.