• Mostafa Najafi, Abolfazl Khoshdel, and Soleiman Kheiri.
• Center of Educational and Therapeutic, Department of Psychiatry, Hajar Medical Hospital, Shahrekord, Iran.
• J Pak Med Assoc. 2012 Jul 1;62(7):668-71.

ObjectiveTo document the performance of patients regarding label styles of their doctors and modes of addressing them.MethodsIn this descriptive survey, 400 patients, at two teaching hospitals--Hajar and Kashani--with a mean age of 40.5 +/- 19.5 years were enrolled. Their demographic data, disorder type and duration were recorded. Photos demonstrating different label and attire styles based on Iranian culture were shown to the patients and they were asked to mark their performances about the necessity of wearing name badge. They were also requested to nominate the way they preferred to be addressed by the doctors.ResultsOf the participants, 180 (45%) were men; 307 (76.8%) were married; and the mean duration of hospitalisation was 2.5 +/- 2.1 days. Most of the patients, (n = 320; 80%) stated that the doctor should always wear a name badge; 301 (75.3%) preferred to call their physicians by title; and 227 (56.8%) preferred to be called by their surnames. Patients preferred to have female physicians wearing white coat, shirt and trousers as the preferred dress code.ConclusionPatients in the study preferred to have the physicians professionally attired, with the only difference being the dark veil for female physicians. Name badge and white coat were also preferred by the patients.

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