Parent Preferences for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Physician Attire: A Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Neonatal Medicine
• Pediatrics
• Healthcare Communication

Background:

• Physician attire can impact the parent-provider relationship.
• Prior studies indicate adult and outpatient pediatric patients prefer formal attire with a white coat.
• Limited research exists on parent preferences for physician attire in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate and describe parent preferences for physician attire specifically within the NICU setting.
• To compare parent preferences across various physician attires in the NICU.
• To understand how context influences attire preferences.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 101 parents in a level IV NICU.
• Parents rated physician attire from photographs across five domains.
• Parents selected preferred attire for different clinical contexts.

Main Results:

• Scrubs without a white coat and formal attire without a white coat received the highest composite preference scores.
• No significant difference in preference was found between formal attire with a white coat and other attires.
• Preferences varied by clinical context (e.g., surgical scrubs for procedures) and parent age.
• Parents found attire important but stated it did not influence their satisfaction with care.

Conclusions:

• NICU parents showed a general favorability towards both formal attire and scrubs.
• Significant variations in preference based on the clinical context were observed.
• The lack of a strong, uniform preference suggests a single dress code policy for NICU physicians is unlikely to enhance the parent-provider relationship.