Survey: More than half can't find heart on body diagram

[KansDem]

Source: CNN

If home is where the heart is, a new survey suggests that most people aren't sure exactly where they live. More than half of people cannot pinpoint the exact location of the human heart on a diagram, and nearly 70 percent can't correctly identify the shape of the lungs, according to the survey.

This lack of knowledge isn'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 of 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.


Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/15/body.knowledge.survey/index.html?iref=24hours

---

And we wonder why there's even a "health-care debate."

[MADem]

1. Probably the very same dipshits who cannot find California on a map of USA! nt

[enlightenment]

3. Well, given that they were British,

we might give them a bit of a pass on locating California . . . their internal bits they should know better.

[depakid]

5. As long as they can count the correct number of ribs

without worrying about the gender of the model, its a start.

[KansDem]

9. From the article...

Weinman says he wouldn'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 don't even know where New Jersey is, so how would they know where their pancreas is?'"

Might be just as bad, or worse, here in the US...

[MADem]

13. I think there are stupid people all over the world. And there are undereducated people, too.

Either that bit wasn't taught to them, or they didn't listen.

[izquierdista]

33. But by some strange coincidence

they all seem to reside in a conservative skull. :think:

[ConcernedCanuk]

26. Pancreas - isn't that in Latin America somewhere?

.
.
.

:silly:

[muriel_volestrangler]

49. I think it's a Greek Island

in the same group as Sclerosis, I think.

I believe the chain is called the 'Islets of Langerhans'. :evilgrin:

[pattmarty]

30. Definitely worse. MUCH worse in the south with intelligent design and such.

[MADem]

10. Well, let's make it easier, then--how about Kenya?

After all, Kenya was once a "Jewel in the Crown!" Or India? Or even Canada?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

14. Americans would probably do a little better since putting your hand on your ...

.... heart makes you a not-commie-fascist-socialist-muslin.

[One_Life_To_Give]

4. How many Californians could identify Whales on a map of the UK?

Maybe they were all Thatcher voters, but people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

[sharp_stick]

7. I think you mean Wales

but I suppose there could be some large mammals swimming about too. ;-)

[MADem]

8. Well, if there were whales on a map of the UK, the map would be in deep water!

WALES, I think you mean--I can find it with no trouble or markings, but I lived there once upon a time.

[depakid]

11. There be whales in the Thames

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Thames_whale

[MADem]

16. I remember that--the poor thing croaked, too. nt

[dysfunctional press]

27. how many people from massachusetts know how to spell 'wales'...?

obviously not all of them...:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

got any stones to throw...? :shrug:

[One_Life_To_Give]

28. Obviously not me

As the old saying goes

I am a well meaning asshole, but a asshole none the less.
:7

At least I could bring a bit of cheer to someones day.

[SOS]

50. Re: American knowledge of geography

Check this out:

Only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map
Half of young Americans can't find New York on a map.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/findings.html

Half of young Americans can't locate New York!
(And 12% don't know where the United States is.)

Is our chidrenz lerning?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. It makes me wonder just what people do in school...

Besides pass notes or Twitter...

Good grief.

:eyes:

[sharp_stick]

6. How could more people

know the thyroid than the lungs? The sheer ignorance of the masses is simply amazing to me, this kind of result is baffling. Is it a lack of basic education or just a simple lack of interest among individuals?

[LisaM]

12. Probably isn't on the test! So why would they know?

I know this is England (maybe the Irish would joke that they don't have hearts; how could they be expected to find it) - is their system testing focused as ours is?

[14thColony]

34. Not quite as much

Although there are comprehensive exams to determine what qualifications you've earned from high school (GCSEs) and more advanced exams to compete for university placements (A-levels).

[moobu2]

15. Oh, I thought my sister was the only one

[lindisfarne]

17. And yet, we are telling people to be "smart" consumers of medical care, to "shop around" for the

best price (High deductible insurance policies are based in the premise that if people have to pay for care out of pocket, they'll be smart consumers and this will drive down the cost of medical care).

Of course, it is almost impossible to get a list of prices from doctors or to get them to tell you what procedures/tests they will likely want to do, given what you are coming in for. How do you shop around in these circumstances?

I had a case of "suspicious for glaucoma" (a 2-year follow-up since they needed to look for changes over time) and couldn't get the doctor's office to even give me codes for what tests they were likely to order, despite the fact I'll bet they do the same tests for 90% of the patients they see. I worked hard to get the information so I could double-check whether insurance would cover the exam - I finally had to simply give the insurance company the codes used for my exam 2 years earlier (I had a different insurance company & had moved, so was seeing a different physician) and hope the tests would be the same. In fact, they were identical.

It's a joke to say one can shop around for medical care, even when it's a non-life-threatening issue. I think it's time to start thinking about government mandated fee schedules for all patients, not just medicare (it would also eliminate the injustice of 2 different patients with different private insurance being charged very different rates).

And how is a patient supposed to decide whether a $90,000 heart surgery procedure done by one physician is a better option than $100,000 for a different procedure?

[pattmarty]

31. Excellent points.

[damntexdem]

18. Well, sure -- those Brits probably have their hearts on the wrong side!

Just like they drive their cars. ;-)

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Strong Atheist]

37. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[supernova]

39. Cool Welcome banner!

Just had to say that.

:toast:

[Strong Atheist]

40. I owe it to DeepBlueC, she found the site...

:toast:

[thelordofhell]

19. Thank goodness it wasn't a body diagram of Dick Cheney.

Then it would have been 100%.

[swilton]

21. These are the very same people voting for G.W. Bush's terms

one and two. I won't go as far to say that they got him elected.

I will say that no one should never under estimate the stupidity of the American people - the same people who are the most militarily capable to lead the rest of the world and the most intellectually incapable.

Saddly, lengthening the American public school program as Obama reportedly wants to do will not fix the problem....changing the content of what is taught within the American school system will.

I have been appalled long enough from bozos such as the illustrious senators (Imhofe, et. al.) and their constituents who do not believe in global warming, who treat religion as science, who believe the earth was created in seven days, and who, can't stack up to any other inhabitant of the planet in their knowledge of US/world history or politics. :nuke:

[bertman]

23. MY GOD!! Are we letting the BRITS vote in our elections?? It was bad enough when we started

letting the Greens vote.

[AnneD]

52. We have all these other illegal aliens voting...

hell, may as well let the Brits take a crack at it (do you REALLY need a sarcasm icon?)

[OneBlueSky]

22. not surprising . . . if they're average Americans, they probably don't have one . . . n/t

.

[The Animator]

24. I believe that most Britanicans don't have medical, people maps...

Like... such as the in the Lungs, or the Brain or the other Intestinal countries... I think we need to build up our educational doctor schools, so that we can better live in the future..

*smiles blankly*

[Vinca]

25. I'm betting they can't locate their brains, either.

[pattmarty]

29. I have been saying for years that the school system in the whole US................

.............is for shit. I have used geography as an example of how stupid most Americans are, where they can't simple shit on a map of the US. Most don't even know their state capitol. The talk today is about healthcare, but what probably is more important is our education system. It absolutely blows, I haven't seen data or even know where to look for it on our "ranking" education wise in the world, but it has to be really fucked up bad.

[Nevernose]

38. Apparently not as bad as the UK's educational system

Since that's where the study was conducted.

For the record, and flippancy aside, all of Europe and especially Britain have similar problems in their schools. In fact, I've seen educational teams from England and China in my district to study how WE do things. American students usually compare poorly when it comes to rote memorization, but when it comes to creative thinking and problem solving, our kids rank among the best.

[mwb970]

32. Um, couldn't the test-takers have felt around for their own heartbeat?

I mean, here the damn thing is pounding away right inside their own bodies and they still can't pinpoint where it is on a diagram?

:shrug:

[FailureToCommunicate]

35. "Just because I'm presumin' that I could be kinda human...If I only had a heart"

Or a brain.
Now I'm guessing all those folks tested COULD probably find the location of their local pub...

[tanyev]

36. Well, duh. The hearts that are in the body are the wrong shape.

[corpseratemedia]

41. i can feel my pulse in my neck

that must mean my heart's in my throat

[Duer 157099]

42. Well considering this is the graphic that goes with that story

not very surprising, actually

[MisterP]

45. Mister Sinister conducted the poll? n/t

[Danmel]

43. When my son was 4

they had him draw a human body for kindergarden evaluations. They told the kids to draw the important parts and timed them. (who knew?) So he drew a person- with three circles in his chest. No fingernails, no eyebrows. or eyelashes. So they reviewed his drawing with him and asked him why he didn't draw fingernails etc, and what where those circles. So Danny said "Well, I didn't have a lot of time and you told me to draw the important parts, so i did- those are his heart and lungs!)

The nursery school director told me that in 22 years, she'd never had a 4 year old draw internal organs.

[enlightenment]

44. Many, many years ago, my grandmother taught

art at school for the "blind, deaf, and dumb" (don't shoot me, that's what they called it then!) in Washington, DC.

She was a sculptor, so one day she gave the kids clay and told them to make a statue of a cow. Most of the kids were unfamiliar with cows, as the lived in the city, so she explained that a cow had four legs and a pointed snout, two floppy ears and two horns; short fur and a long tail . . . and many had an udder, which she explained served the same function for baby cows as the childrens' mothers' breasts.

A while later, one of the children showed her his creation. It had a long pointed snout and a very long tail. It was sitting as a dog might sit - and as she had neglected to mention hooves, it had paws instead. The ears were long, beagle-like, and there were two things that looked like party-favor horns next to the ears. Between the front legs was a rather perfect set of human female breasts.

He had rendered his cow quite exactly to her specifications.

[mbperrin]

46. And I would need to know that...why? Don't the doctors know?

I already pump my own gas, bus my own table, and carry my own groceries out. I AM NOT going to do my own internal medicine!

WTF do they get paid all that money for, if not to know this shit?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

47. Mission Accomplished.

[Mari333]

48. Ill bet everyone knows where their penis is. nt

[semillama]

51. Well, here's the problem

The anatomy chart was accidentally switched with a picture of Dick Cheney.