The impact of wearing a white coat on the perception of older people

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies have demonstrated that wearing a white coat affects patients (“the white coat effect”), the individual wearing the white coat (“enclothed cognition”), and the relationship itself between both parties. The aim of our study is to determine whether our perception of an older person differs when they are interacting with a professional caregiver wearing a white coat as opposed to when the caregiver is in civilian clothing. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted on this subject thus far.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we recorded two videos showing an older person with a professional caregiver. The videos are identical except for the caregiver's attire: white coat vs. civilian clothing. 135 volunteers from the general population took part in our online survey and watched one of the two videos. Then, the perception of the older person was evaluated with 10 pairs of opposing adjectives (such as: “independent/dependent”). Participants were asked to move the cursor between the two adjectives. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to compare the perceptions both groups.

Results: The results obtained indicate that when the caregiver is wearing a white coat, the older person at their side is perceived as significantly (14.77%) more dependent as opposed to when the caregiver is in civilian clothing. The caregiver is also perceived as significantly more competent when wearing a white coat.

Conclusions: Professional caregiver’s wearing a white coat is likely to have an impact on the perception of the older people in contact with said caregivers. Older people may be perceived as more dependent if the nursing staff (at home, in nursing home) wear white coats.