PATIENT PERCEPTIONS OF PHYSICAL THERAPISTS' APPEARANCE
Colin Campbell, SPT; Shannon Samluk, SPT; Christine Schatz, SPT; Courtney Spongberg, SPT
Faculty Mentor: Jim Dronberger, PT, DPT, OCS, MBA
Faculty Mentor: Jim Dronberger, PT, DPT, OCS, MBA
Purpose: Although first impressions have been cited as influencing interpersonal relationships, little research is available to inform physical therapists about the impact of their attire and appearance on patients. The purpose of this study was to assess whether patients in outpatient physical therapy settings find some aspects of attire and appearance of physical therapists to be acceptable or unacceptable.
Subjects: 345 patients (ages 13-85, m = 48.5)
Methods and Materials: a 73-item questionnaire was developed and mailed to 39 physical therapy facilities around the continental United States, selected from contact sources provided by the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education at Rockhurst University. Facility designees were asked to solicit participation of their patients. Participants were provided with a consent form and the questionnaire. Once completed, they were asked to return the documents in an envelope to ensure confidentiality. Each questionnaire was coded to allow researchers to track clinical locations (four geographical regions) without violating patient anonymity. Data was analyzed using SPSS 23 to calculate Pearson Correlation, and Crosstabs across all comparisons.
Results: Of 1000 questionnaires mailed, 354 were returned and 345 were deemed usable. 67% of respondents indicated that name tags, khaki pants, polo shirts, and athletic shoes are acceptable clothing for both male and female therapists (a 5 on a 1-5 scale from “unacceptable to “acceptable”). No items on the questionnaire were highly ranked as unacceptable (1 on the 1-5 scale). Patients were also grouped into one of four groups by their body mass index (BMI) scores (17.94– 50.09, m = 28.64.) Patients with high BMI scores (32.38-50.08) were accepting of therapists perceived to have either high or low BMI scores (i.e. they ranked both groups of therapists as acceptable: 5 on the 1-5 scale). Patients with low to moderate BMI scores were neither accepting (5 ranking) nor unaccepting (1 ranking) of therapists perceived to have high or low BMI scores.
Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that patients do regard some garments and appearances to be more acceptable than others: but there was variability in responses to many of the questionnaire inclusions. The omission of some scoring definitions on the survey may limit the strength of this study.
Source of funding: None
Subjects: 345 patients (ages 13-85, m = 48.5)
Methods and Materials: a 73-item questionnaire was developed and mailed to 39 physical therapy facilities around the continental United States, selected from contact sources provided by the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education at Rockhurst University. Facility designees were asked to solicit participation of their patients. Participants were provided with a consent form and the questionnaire. Once completed, they were asked to return the documents in an envelope to ensure confidentiality. Each questionnaire was coded to allow researchers to track clinical locations (four geographical regions) without violating patient anonymity. Data was analyzed using SPSS 23 to calculate Pearson Correlation, and Crosstabs across all comparisons.
Results: Of 1000 questionnaires mailed, 354 were returned and 345 were deemed usable. 67% of respondents indicated that name tags, khaki pants, polo shirts, and athletic shoes are acceptable clothing for both male and female therapists (a 5 on a 1-5 scale from “unacceptable to “acceptable”). No items on the questionnaire were highly ranked as unacceptable (1 on the 1-5 scale). Patients were also grouped into one of four groups by their body mass index (BMI) scores (17.94– 50.09, m = 28.64.) Patients with high BMI scores (32.38-50.08) were accepting of therapists perceived to have either high or low BMI scores (i.e. they ranked both groups of therapists as acceptable: 5 on the 1-5 scale). Patients with low to moderate BMI scores were neither accepting (5 ranking) nor unaccepting (1 ranking) of therapists perceived to have high or low BMI scores.
Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that patients do regard some garments and appearances to be more acceptable than others: but there was variability in responses to many of the questionnaire inclusions. The omission of some scoring definitions on the survey may limit the strength of this study.
Source of funding: None