Attire and appearance of pediatrician: parents'/guardians' opinion

Professional appearance of a pediatrician is an important element affecting the perception of competence of the doctor among patients and their parents/guardians, thus influencing their compliance. As there is no study on this issue addressing the Indian scene, we requested responses to a questionnaire containing 15 questions from the parents/guardians of the children. The purpose of the study was to assess their opinion regarding attire and appearance of pediatricians. Five each of the questions were related to common aspects of appearance and attire of the pediatrician in general and that of the male and the female pediatrician in particular. A total of 210 parents/guardians responded to see the question listed in the questionnaire. Assertive responses to each question were analysed for any association with the following categories--Urban, Rural, Males, Females, Urban Males, Rural Males, Urban Females, Rural Females, age below 40 years and age 40 years or more. Majority of the total assertive respondents preferred a formal/traditional attire and appearance for the pediatrician. Although most of the above categories concurred with this general opinion, some categories showed statistically significant, but practically unimportant, differences in the extent of agreement. The respondents generally favoured a white coat and nameplate on the pediatrician, shoes and a necktie for the male pediatrician and saree for the female pediatrician. They did not approve clothes with bizarre designs, use of perfumes by the pediatrician, long hair, T-shirts and jeans pant for the male pediatrician, chudidar, lipstick and other make-ups, costly jewelery and short hair for the female pediatrician.