Appearing September 22 in JAMA Internal Medicine, Dr. Emily G. McDonald and Dr. Todd C. Lee from McGill University and the McGill University Hospital Centre and Dr. Vera Dounaevskaia from the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto authored a research letter based on their study on whether hospital patients should be allowed to wear their own clothing below the waist.
The study looked at patients from six hospitals across Canada to explore whether, if given the opportunity to do so, patients would wear their own clothing below the waist rather than merely the opened-back hospital gown. Of the 127 patients looked at in the study, only 14 were wearing their own garments even though 57 were eligible to do so.
The ability to wear one’s own clothing, at least below the waist, in the hospital may have a positive impact on a patient’s dignity and self-esteem while dealing with what could be an already difficult situation.
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