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Pharmacist attire and its impact on patient preference
Erika Cretton-Scott1, Leah Johnson2, Sean King3
1Department of Pharmaceutical, Social, and Administrative Sciences. McWhorter School of Pharmacology. Birmingham, Alabama ( United States ).
Objective:
To determine the influence of demographics on patient preferences for community pharmacist attire.
Methods:
A 10-item questionnaire was developed and administered to patients visiting a chain pharmacy or an independent pharmacy in the Birmingham, Alabama metropolitan area. Mann-Whitney was used to examine if statistical differences existed in chain versus independent pharmacy patient's selections based on pharmacist attire.
Results:
A statistically significant difference in patient preference for pharmacist attire between the settings in regards to which pharmacist patients felt was more approachable was observed; 51.2% of chain pharmacy respondents compared to 30% of independent pharmacy respondents identified the pharmacist pair with business formal attire and white coat as more approachable. Differences in education was also apparent with 70% of respondents in the independent pharmacy setting reporting having a Bachelor's degree or higher compared to 45% of respondents in the chain pharmacy setting.
Conclusions:
With the exception of approachability, patients indicated preference for pharmacist with the white coat regardless of community setting. Given the importance of patient-pharmacist communication for building successful patient-pharmacist relationships, if patients do not perceive the pharmacists as approachable, communication and subsequent development of said relationships may not occur regardless of perceived knowledge and competency.
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