Down With Paper: 75% Feel More Comfortable in Cloth

WILMINGTON, DEL. – Who finds those cold and itchy paper patient gowns that don’t cover much and tear halfway through a doctor’s visit, comfortable? Not many people.

A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Nixon Uniform Service & Medical Wear, found that 75 percent of adults who have ever been asked to wear a gown at a doctor’s office feel somewhat or much more comfortable in a cloth gown versus a paper one, with more than half (59 percent) saying they feel much more comfortable.

The “Patients Against Paper” movement, supported by Nixon Uniform Service & Medical Wear, agrees. This patient-based movement was created to rally around the cloth gown, not only to make patients comfortable, but preserve the quality of healthcare and doctor-patient relationships. Comfort plays an important role in doctor-patient relationships, as nearly two in three U.S. adults (64 percent) strongly or somewhat agreed that their physical comfort level would affect their ability to share health concerns with their doctor.

“Providing patient comfort and dignity is fundamental in delivering quality healthcare,” said Jason Berstein, VP of Nixon Uniform Service & Medical Wear. “Nixon is proud to support the ‘Patients Against Paper’ movement, providing a comfortable, cost-effective, and more environmentally friendly alternative in the cloth gown.”

Survey Methodology
Harris Interactive conducted the survey on behalf of Nixon Uniform Service and Medical Wear by telephone within the United States between October 27 and October 30, 2006 among 1,025 adults (aged 18 and over), of whom, 889 have worn a paper or cloth gown at a doctor’s office. Figures for age, sex, geographic region, and race were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. With a pure probability sample of 1,025 or 889 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points. However that does not take other sources of error into account.

To learn more about “Patients Against Paper” and how you can become involved by signing a petition, interacting with other paper-haters, and learning about the benefits of cloth gowns visit www.patientsagainstpaper.com.

Nixon Uniform Service and Medical Wear provides, launders, and delivers a complete line of medical apparel, and linens, along with other reusable products. Founded in 1967 as a dry-cleaning business, the company rapidly grew into a chain of dry-cleaners. Nixon entered the textile rental market in 1969 and quickly evolved from consumer dry cleaning into business-to-business textile management services. Today, Nixon is the largest and fastest growing textile rental company in the mid-Atlantic. For more information please visit www.nixonmedical.com.


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