Only Half Of Brits Can Find Their Heart

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Article Date: 12 Jun 2009 - 7:00 PDT

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UK researchers who asked over 700 patients and members of the public to pick out a diagram that showed the correct location of the human heart found that less than half of them were able to do so. Less than one third placed the lungs correctly although 85 per cent of them were able correctly to place the intestines.

The researchers from University College London (UCL), who published the study in the 12 June online issue of BMC Family Practice, said their findings could have important implications for doctor-patient communications.

In fact the researchers said they found little difference in understanding of human anatomy between their survey and a similar one done about 30 years ago.

They wrote in their background information that previous studies had shown that patients often don't understand what their doctors are saying and many have a poor understanding of the human body and where different organs are located.

So they decided to do a new study to see if the situation had changed, and whether there might a difference in knowledge between say patients and the general public, for instance whether patients with a particular condition relating to an organ like the liver might have a better idea of where it is than the general public.

For the study the investigators asked 722 volunteers to fill in multiple choice questionnaires that assessed their anatomical knowledge. Each question showed a number of options where each option was an outline of the human body with a shaded area in it. The volunteer had to then choose which diagram showed the correct position of that particular organ.

133 of the volunteers were members of the UK general public, while the rest were 6 different groups of about 100 in each. Each of the 6 groups represented a different diagnostic category, for instance liver or lungs or diabetes, and comprised patients attending one of three London hospital.

The results showed that:

• Across all the groups the knowledge about where the main body organs were located was poor and had not improved much over the last 30 years.


• There was little difference between the groups in overall score, but the liver disease and the diabetes groups were able more accurately to place the organ that related to their condition.


• The older the volunteer, the less accurate their anatomical knowledge, while the more educated volunteers tended to score better than the less educated.


• There was no overall difference between men and women except that women were better able to place organs on outlines of female bodies.

The researchers concluded that:

"Many patients and general public do not know the location of key body organs, even those in which their medical problem is located, which could have important consequences for doctor-patient communication."

They suggest doctors and medical professionals ensure patients understand what they are saying and know which organs they are talking about and where they are located in the human body, and not assume that just because they have a condition that relates to a particular organ, for example the heart, the liver or the lungs, that they know where it is.

The head of a patient research group, Don Redding of the Picker Institute Europe, agreed with the suggestion. He told the BBC that there was a "real problem" with people's ability to understand and deal with health information, and this study highlighted it.

If people are to make the most cost-effective use the NHS then they need to be able to understand and talk about the information they are given. Otherwise we end up with repeat referrals and unnecessary hospitalisations, said Redding.

However, Ellen Mason of the British Heart Foundation suggested that while these findings are interesting, ultimately it was more important to know how to look after your heart than where it was in your body, reported the BBC.

"How accurate is patients' anatomical knowledge : a cross-sectional, questionnaire study of six patient groups and a general public sample."
John Weinman, Gibran Yusuf, Robert Berks, Sam Rayner, and Keith J Petrie.
BMC Family Practice 2009, 10:43.
Published online 12 June 2009
doi:10.1186/1471-2296-10-43

Additional source: BBC News.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today