[How to express the percentage of words expressing the frequency (or sensitivity) of symptoms in a disease?]

A prospective multicenter study concerning 30 vocabulary terms was undertaken to determine if: 1) these terms could be equated with specific percentages; 2) observer assessment varied with time; 3) teachers and students used the same words with the same meaning; 4) certain words were more discriminant than others, and 5) terms corresponding to numbers were the same in French as in English. Three hundred and thirty medical professionals, coming from general and digestive units of 45 University, regional, or private institutions, were asked to answer three types of questionnaires pertaining to the same 30 words, but in a different order. One to 3 months later, 170 of them were asked to fill out the same questionnaire with the same words but in a different order. Sixteen percent were University professors, 15 percent were hospital or private surgeons, 19 percent were senior residents, 29 percent were interns or junior residents and 21 percent were medical students.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)