A majority of North Americans surveyed have heard of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but some of them have the denomination confused with other religious groups.

A survey taken over several months last year found that 56 percent of respondents had heard or read about the denomination, according to a new report by the North American Division (NAD) of the Adventist Church. That marks an increase from the most recent survey done by the church, in 1994, when 53 percent of respondents indicated name recognition of the faith group. But those percentages lag behind the 70 percent who recognized the group in 1986 and the 65 percent who knew of it in 1970.

About 15 percent of those who said they were aware of the church thought it was connected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) or Jehovah's Witnesses or described it as a cult. The number of respondents with this confusion increased significantly from previous surveys.

Almost 22 percent of the 1,284 respondents said they knew someone who is an Adventist. About 7 percent of the adults surveyed said they had visited an Adventist church at least once in their lives.

The fact that Adventist Christian worship on Saturday, the biblical Sabbath, was the most commonly known fact about Adventists, mentioned by 20 percent of those who were aware of the protestant denomination. Only 2 percent of those surveyed referred to vegetarianism and other aspects of Adventists' emphasis on health and healthy lifestyles. "As more and more organizations have come to promote many of the same health practices historically taught by the Adventist Church, this aspect of the church seems to have slipped from public view as a unique identifier for Seventh-day Adventists," the report stated.

Researchers found that younger adults are significantly less likely to have heard of the Seventh-day Adventist Church than are adults older than 39. They found that blacks were more likely to express positive attitudes about the church.