Letter to the Editor
Should doctors wear ties?

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank all doctors and members of the public who participated, the microbiology staff at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, and Miss Victoria Hughes.

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Cited by (23)

  • Physician attire in the intensive care unit in Japan influences visitors' perception of care

    2018, Journal of Critical Care
    Citation Excerpt :

    The United Kingdom Department of Health recommended that physicians not wear neckties [8]. They have also recommended that doctors wear short sleeve shirts and no wristwatches [9]. These regulations also ban the traditional white coat, which has led to acrimony among physicians, and must be considered in the context of patient perceptions [10].

  • Bacterial counts from hospital doctors' ties are higher than those from shirts

    2009, American Journal of Infection Control
    Citation Excerpt :

    As expected, the study found that shirts were cleaned much more frequently than ties, which carried higher counts of bacteria. The time since the last cleaning of the tie was in line with the findings of Ditchburn.5 The results also suggested that a larger study might detect a greater number of S aureus, a major wound pathogen, on ties, which would then pose a greater infection risk than shirts.

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