Orthodontist's attire and patients' likelihood to send referrals

Hypotheses. (1) The patients seen at the UIC Department of Orthodontics are equally satisfied and likely to refer others for orthodontic care regardless of the resident's attire. (2) The ethnicity of a patient does not affect whether the resident's attire influences the patient's satisfaction or likelihood to refer.;Methods. This was a clinical trial that surveyed patients or parents of minors seeking treatment at the clinic under two different conditions. All 27 residents wore scrubs for ten business days, and then wore business attire for the next ten business days. A patient satisfaction survey was distributed to each patient or parent prior to their appointment during the two periods and collected at the end of the appointment.;Results. 714 of 774 surveys were returned, 669 (86%) of which were complete. Mann-Whitney tests showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the two tested attires in whether a patient or parent would refer (p=0.201), whether they were satisfied with the resident's appearance (p=0.467), and overall satisfaction (p=0.983). In addition, there was no significant difference in how the various ethnic groups responded to the two attire conditions. There were not enough African American subjects to determine if there was a difference in their responses. The "Other" ethnic group showed a tendency to be less satisfied, but sample size was too small to interpret. Overall, patients were very satisfied and ethnic differences were small.;Conclusions. When comparing scrubs with business attire, there were no differences in the patient's or parent's satisfaction or likelihood to refer. Although a larger sample size might show ethnic differences, this study suggests that any differences in this location with these ethnic groups would not be substantial.;Objectives. This study sought to determine whether the orthodontists' attire affects patients' and parents' likelihood to refer.