Researchers at King's College in London have carried out the study and found that many people didn't know where the major organs are located, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.

Lead researcher John Weinman said: “We thought that the improvements in education seen since then, coupled with an increased media focus on medical and health related topics, and growing access to the net might have led to an increase in patients' anatomical knowledge. As it turns out, there has been no significant improvement in the intervening years.” In fact, the researchers came to the conclusion after questioning patients at Kings, Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals as well as members of the public.

While only 50 per cent of those surveyed were able to tell the exact position of their heart, a third pinpointed the lungs, and the 722 people questioned only got half the answers right on average, the study found. UK-HEART 2 LAST The people questioned were shown drawings of a male or female body with organs shown in different positions, one of which was correct. Some were easy, 85.9 per cent could find the intestines and 80.7 per cent knew where the bladder was.

Women also performed better when looking at a female body.

“Health care professionals still need to take care in providing organ specific information to patients and should not assume that patients have this information, even for those organs in which their medical problem is located.

“The consultation may offer many opportunities for both checking and improving patients' knowledge,” concluded the study, published in the 'BMC Family Practice' journal.