If home is where the heart is , a new survey suggests that most people are n't sure exactly where they live . More than half of people can not pinpoint the exact location of the human heart on a diagram , and nearly 70 percent ca n't correctly identify the shape of the lungs , according to the survey . This lack of knowledge is n't just embarrassing -- it could lead to a poorer quality of health care , some experts say . In the study , published in the journal BMC Family Practice , a research team surveyed 722 Britons -- 589 hospital outpatients and 133 people in the general population . They gave the volunteers four diagrams of human figures and asked them to choose the one that showed the correct size and location of a specific organ . ( For example , the heart diagrams showed various size organs on the far left side of the chest , directly in the center , anchored on the center/left chest , and on the right side of the chest . ) Overall , people knew less basic anatomy than the researchers expected -- even those patients being treated for a specific condition involving that organ . Participants generally answered half the questions correctly , including 46.5 percent who knew which drawing represented their heart . In all , 31.4 percent correctly identified the lungs , 38.4 percent the stomach , 41.8 percent the thyroid , and 42.5 percent the kidneys . The intestines and bladder were the most easily identified , with 85.9 percent and 80.7 percent , respectively , answering the question correctly . Health.com : Are you cholesterol smart ? Take this quiz . There was little to no improvement compared with a similar study conducted in 1970 , says lead author John Weinman , Ph.D. , of King 's College London . In that study , subjects correctly identified eight major body parts about half of the time . ( The researchers used the same body parts from the 1970 study and added three more : the pancreas , gallbladder , and ovaries . ) Given the accessibility of the Internet and the prominence of health stories in the news media today , Weinman 's team expected that people would now know more about their body . Weinman says he would n't be surprised if a study based in the United States produced similar results -- or worse . `` I imagine they would be similar , but there could well be regional variation , depending on which part of the U.S. the participants were from , '' he says . `` Actually , I asked one of my colleagues , who is from the U.S. , and she felt that Americans might be worse because , to quote her , 'Very many Americans do n't even know where New Jersey is , so how would they know where their pancreas is ? ' '' Health.com : Eat Smarter in your 30s , 40s , and 50s . That may sound harsh , but time and again , U.S. studies have shown that doctors overestimate how much their patients understand about their conditions and treatment . Adam Kelly , Ph.D. , an assistant professor of medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine , in Houston , Texas , conducted a 2007 study , that showed that doctors overestimate patient literacy and that a lack of patient knowledge leads to poorer care . Kelly believes the problem could be `` even more profound '' in the United States , although a similar study has not been conducted in America . Still , anatomy may not be the best measure of health literacy , says Sandeep Jauhar , M.D. , the director of the heart failure program at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center , and the author of `` Intern : A Doctor 's Initiation . '' Health.com : Computer games that boost your memory . `` They would like us to draw the conclusion that because the patients ca n't identify these organs anatomically that that is an indication of low health-care literacy -- and that may or may not be true , '' he says . `` I work with heart failure patients , and whether they can identify where their heart is is not so important to me as long as they know which medicines to take and when . '' Many patients with heart failure , unfortunately , do n't know which medicines to take , ca n't identify their symptoms , and do n't follow up with their doctors , Jauhar says . `` So health illiteracy is definitely a big problem , '' he adds . `` I just do n't know that this is the best study to show that Americans or Europeans are illiterate when it comes to their health care . '' The study suggests that patients with liver disease and diabetes may be the most health-literate : They were the only two groups to do better than the general population when identifying their affected organ . Overall , 75.3 percent of those with liver disease could find the liver ( versus 45.9 percent in the general population ) and 53.7 percent of diabetics could locate the pancreas ( versus 30.8 percent ) . Health.com : How I survived a heart attack at 43 . `` It is possible that patient-education material for people with diabetes may help to increase their knowledge [ of the pancreas ] , but it is still only at the 50 percent level , '' Weinman says . `` The same explanation may also be true for liver disease , but it may be a chance finding due to the sampling of patients for this study , and it really needs replicating in other larger studies to be certain it is a robust finding and to search for possible reasons for it . '' Weinman says there 's a mountain of evidence to prove that effective communication from doctors increases patient satisfaction and understanding , leading to better clinical outcomes and improved adherence to treatment . Health.com : I lost my insurance , stopped my diabetes medication , and had a heart attack . Jauhar agrees that health literacy improves not only the quality of health care , but also life expectancy . `` Health literacy is clearly very important , and how well patients are versed in their own health care is probably just as important a factor in determining longevity as genes or socioeconomic status , '' he says . `` These are important factors in how long someone lives . '' Enter to win a monthly Room Makeover Giveaway from MyHomeIdeas.com . Copyright Health Magazine 2009 .
More than half in British survey could n't identify heart 's location . U.S. results could be similar or worse , some experts speculate . Health literacy contributes to better care received , better patient outcomes .