[Do clothes make the psychiatrist? Psychiatrists and patients on psychiatrists' dress style and form of address]

Abstract

Background: Both the way a psychiatrist dresses and the way he gets addressed can have an impact on the therapeutic relationship. Most psychiatrists have stopped wearing white coats and dress less formally than before.

Aim: To identify psychiatrists’ and patients’ preferences regarding psychiatrists’ style of dress and form of address. To test if certain styles of dress are linked to competence or accessibility.

Methods: A total of 143 respondents, of which 35 psychiatrists and 108 patients, filled out structured questionnaires with pictures.

Results: Psychiatrists, and both minor and adult patients, preferred psychiatrists to dress formally while elderly patients prefer them to wear white coats. The formal dress style and white coat were perceived as more competent than the informal style. Psychiatrists thought a white coat is regarded less accessible than a formal dress style and a formal dress style less accessible than an informal one. Adult patients regarded a white coat as less accessible than formal and informal dress styles. In elderly and minor patients no differences were seen in perceived accessibility for the three dress styles. Both psychiatrists and patients preferred a psychiatrist to be addressed with ‘doctor’ and a patient with his/her first name.

Conclusions: It seems a good choice for a psychiatrist to go formally dressed, let them be addressed by their title, and address patients by their first name.