General population’s knowledge about the anatomical locations of organs and medical terms today and 50 years ago: a replication study

摘要

Background: Physicians are frequently not aware that patients may not be familiar with the meaning of medical terms or have limited knowledge about the location of organs. These aspects of functional health competence require particular attention when designing communication curricula for undergraduate medical students. The aim of our study was to evaluate the knowledge of laypersons about the anatomical locations of organs and the definitions of commonly used medical terms as relevant aspects of health literacy. Furthermore, we wished to compare it with the knowledge of a historical patient cohort who performed this study 50 years ago.