Does the white coat influence satisfaction, trust and empathy in the doctor-patient relationship in the General and Family Medicine consultation? Interventional study.

Objectives: To understand the influence of the white coat on patient satisfaction, opinions about medical clothing, perception about confidence, empathy and medical knowledge and the satisfaction and comfort level of physicians in consultation.

Setting: An interventional study was conducted with a representative sample of the population attending primary care in central Portugal.

Participants: The sample was composed by 286 patients divided into two groups exposed or not to a doctor wearing a white coat.