In a new study published in the journal Medical Hypothesis, scientists Mark Changizi and Kevin Rio argue that the typical hospital gown colors—most often a solid blue/green or a print on a white background—may be preventing health professionals from detecting conditions that have skin-color related symptoms. Changizi, assistant professor in the department of cognitive science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., said in a press release, "pale skin, yellow skin, and cyanosis—a potentially serious condition of bluish discoloration of the skin, lips, nails, and mucous membranes due to lack of oxygen in the blood—are common symptoms. These color changes often go unnoticed, however, because they often involve a fairly universal shift in skin color." Solution? They suggest giving patients gowns, sheets and adhesive tape that closely match their own skin hue. The contrast against the provided "baseline" skin color is what will make the shift noticeable, if there is one. Changizi says, "If that patient is wearing a skin-colored gown or adhesive tab, however, and their skin uniformly changes slightly more blue, the initially 'invisible' gown or tab will appear bright and yellow to the observer." While there exists measuring devices that do the same job, the two scientists believe that the hospital gowns, sheets and skin-colored adhesive tape could act as another tool, and one specifically helpful in hospitals that cannot afford the expensive oxygen content-detecting equipment.

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