Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Division of Plastic Surgery, R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.
JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Jul 1;4(7):e2117779. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.17779.
In recent years, casual physician attire (fleece jackets and softshell jackets) has become increasingly popular, but to our knowledge, public perceptions of these garments have not been studied. Furthermore, gender biases may result in differing expectations and perceptions of female and male physicians and may be associated with patient rapport and trust building.
To characterize public perceptions of casual physician attire and implicit gender biases in public assessment of physicians' professional attire.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This survey study used a population-based survey administered via Amazon Mechanical Turk from May to June 2020 among individuals aged 18 years or older who were US residents and for whom English was the primary language.
Survey featuring photographs of a male or female model wearing various types of physician attire (white coat, business attire, and scrubs).
Respondents' ratings of professionalism, experience, and friendliness of the male and female models in various attire and perceptions of the models' most likely health care profession. Preference scores for various outfits were calculated as the difference between the preference score for an outfit and the mean preference score for the outfit-role pairing.
Of 522 surveys completed, 487 were included for analysis; the mean (SD) age of respondents was 36.2 (12.4) years, 260 (53.4%) were female, and 372 (76.4%) were White individuals. Respondents perceived models of health care professionals wearing white coats vs those wearing fleece or softshell jackets as significantly more experienced (mean [SD] experience score: white coat, 4.9 [1.5]; fleece, 3.1 [1.5]; softshell, 3.1 [1.5]; P < .001) and professional (mean [SD] professionalism score: white coat, 4.9 [1.6]; fleece, 3.2 [1.5]; softshell, 3.3 [1.5]; P < .001). A white coat with scrubs attire was most preferred for surgeons (mean [SD] preference index: 1.3 [2.3]), whereas a white coat with business attire was preferred for family physicians and dermatologists (mean [SD] preference indexes, 1.6 [2.3] and 1.2 [2.3], respectively; P < .001). Regardless of outerwear, female models in business attire as inner wear were rated as less professional than male counterparts (mean [SD] professionalism score: male, 65.8 [25.4]; female, 56.2 [20.2]; P < .001). Both the male and the female model were identified by the greater number of respondents as a physician or surgeon; however, the female model vs the male model was mistaken by more respondents as a medical technician (39 [8.0] vs 16 [3.3%]; P < .005), physician assistant (56 [11.5%] vs 11 [2.3%]; P < .001), or nurse (161 [33.1%] vs 133 [27.3%]; P = .050).
In this survey study, survey respondents rated physicians wearing casual attire as less professional and experienced than those wearing a white coat. Gender biases were found in impressions of professionalism, with female physicians' roles being more frequently misidentified. Understanding disparate public perceptions of physician apparel may inform interventions to address professional role confusion and cumulative career disadvantages for women in medicine.
近年来，休闲医生着装（羊毛夹克和软壳夹克）越来越受欢迎，但据我们所知，公众对这些服装的看法尚未得到研究。此外，性别偏见可能导致对男女医生的期望和看法不同，并且可能与患者的融洽关系和建立信任有关。
描述公众对休闲医生着装的看法以及公众对医生职业着装的隐含性别偏见。
设计、设置和参与者：这项调查研究使用了一项基于人群的调查，于 2020 年 5 月至 6 月通过亚马逊 Mechanical Turk 在美国居民中进行，年龄在 18 岁或以上，英语是主要语言。
调查包括一名男性或女性模特穿着各种类型的医生服装（白大褂、商务服装和手术服）的照片。
受访者对男性和女性模特在各种服装中的专业程度、经验和友好程度的评分，以及对模特最有可能从事的医疗保健职业的看法。各种服装的偏好得分是通过服装偏好得分与服装角色组合的平均偏好得分之间的差值计算得出的。
在完成的 522 份调查中，有 487 份被纳入分析；受访者的平均（SD）年龄为 36.2（12.4）岁，260 人（53.4%）为女性，372 人（76.4%）为白人。与穿羊毛或软壳夹克的医生相比，受访者认为穿白大褂的医疗保健专业人员更有经验（平均[SD]经验评分：白大褂，4.9[1.5]；羊毛，3.1[1.5]；软壳，3.1[1.5]；P<.001）和专业（平均[SD]专业评分：白大褂，4.9[1.6]；羊毛，3.2[1.5]；软壳，3.3[1.5]；P<.001）。对于外科医生来说，白大褂搭配手术服是最受欢迎的（平均[SD]偏好指数：1.3[2.3]），而白大褂搭配商务装则是家庭医生和皮肤科医生的首选（平均[SD]偏好指数，分别为 1.6[2.3]和 1.2[2.3]；P<.001）。无论穿什么外套，穿商务装的女性模特都被认为不如穿男装的模特专业（平均[SD]专业评分：男性，65.8[25.4]；女性，56.2[20.2]；P<.001）。男性和女性模特都被更多的受访者识别为医生或外科医生；然而，女性模特比男性模特更容易被误认为是医疗技术员（39[8.0]比 16[3.3%]；P<.005）、医生助理（56[11.5%]比 11[2.3%]；P<.001）或护士（161[33.1%]比 133[27.3%]；P=.050）。
在这项调查研究中，调查受访者认为穿休闲服装的医生比穿白大褂的医生专业度和经验低。在专业程度的印象中发现了性别偏见，女性医生的角色更常被混淆。了解公众对医生服装的不同看法可能有助于解决医生职业角色混淆和女性在医学领域累积职业劣势的问题。
