Perceptions of outpatients regarding the attire of physiotherapists

This study investigated perceptions of patients regarding physiotherapists' attire.

Three hundred patients in three publicly funded outpatient physiotherapy clinics were asked to complete a questionnaire, ranking four photographed modes of attire (lab coat, tailored dress, "scrubs," and jeans) in terms of professionalism, preference, and appropriateness and rating their level of agreement with four statements about physiotherapists' attire.

Response rate was 63.7 %. The lab coat was ranked most professional, tailored dress most preferred, and jeans least professional and least preferred. Although jeans were deemed inappropriate (p < 0.001), strong support was shown for wearing jeans on "casual day" (p = 0.001). Age of respondents influenced the perception of the appropriateness of wearing jeans (p = 0.007 for male therapist; p = 0.017 for female therapist); only the cohort <36 years considered jeans appropriate apparel. Overall exposure to physiotherapists (number of lifetime visits) affected patients' perceptions of the importance of attire (p = 0.039) and the appropriateness of wearing jeans (p = 0.018): as number of visits increased, perceived importance decreased and perceived propriety of jeans increased.

The findings of this study, the first to examine patients' opinions of physiotherapists' attire, suggest that outpatients made clear distinctions between what they perceived as professional and what they preferred, as well as between the appropriateness of physiotherapists' wearing jeans in general and the appropriateness of their doing so on "casual day." Age and exposure to physiotherapists influenced patients' perceptions of attire.