[Pneumo-Quest: A standardised self-questionnaire to be completed at home before a first appointment at a respiratory clinic]. / Pneumo-Quest, auto-questionnaire standardisé à compléter au domicile avant une première consultation en pneumologie : étude de validation.

The Pneumo-Quest self-questionnaire was developed to standardize the practice of recollection when welcoming a new patient. It consists of 82 main questions and 34 subsidiary questions to be completed at home by the patients before their first visit to a pulmonologist. This evaluation was carried out on the basis of 137 returned questionnaires. The feasibility (main criterion) was good with 93±5% of the questions answered and an average completion time of 15.1±9.8minutes (mean±SD). The reliability of the responses (secondary criterion) was good with the agreement between the patient's response and the doctor's opinion being excellent or good for the majority of medical histories and treatments, as evidenced by the high values of the kappa coefficient (>0.90; <0.90; <0.75). Patient and physician perception of the questionnaire was good with 99% and 90% positive ratings, respectively. The use of the questionnaire was unhelpful in the course of the consultation in only 2% of cases. Doctors found the tool useful for obtaining a comprehensive history in 87% of cases and patients declared that it helped them "forgot nothing" in 93% of the cases. The questionnaire helped the doctor to identify the patient's problems rapidly in 71% of cases and saved time in 64%. These positive results encourage a wide dissemination of the questionnaire (www.pneumo-quest.com).

[At the heart of Internet]. / Au coeur de l'Internet.

Internet combines features of both a "coffee shop" and a "very large library". It is different from these two institutions in the innovating approach to information and its communication. The information is obtained by navigators, who recover documents dispersed in the four corners of the World Wide Web. The hypertext links between these documents explain the originality of the Web. They are a permanent invitation to look "somewhere else" to enrich the original site. Electronic messengers facilitate the exchange of information and documents. Room for discussion is available for all in the forums and to a well identified community in the lists of users. Internet is a decentralised and anarchic system. In order not to get lost, the sign posts must be followed. To avoid being a nuisance, there are rules of good conduct. You must not expect too much in order not to be disappointed: absolute security (with the risk of not having access) and perfect adequation of content (because of the risk of the loss of freedom of expression).