Objective:Cochrane reviews are predominantly based on the data from RCTs. The results are derived from groups and are applicable to groups, but they take little account of differences between individuals and are therefore difficult to apply to individual patients. It is also difficult for clinicians to explain to patients how a particular intervention may affect their disease and their life. Brief stories describing individual patients' experiences with an intervention could help patients and clinicians to understand the range of possible outcomes more directly than is possible in Cochrane reviews as they are now.

Methods:DIPEx (Database of Individual Patients' Experience of illness) now includes collections of experience of hypertension, prostate cancer, breast cancer and colorectal cancer (www.dipex.org). It was demonstrated at the 9th Cochrane Colloquium in Lyon (abstract O-053, p30 of abstracts). Each disease module summarises semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 40 -50 patients. Cochrane reviews of interventions in these diseases will be illustrated by clips from interviews of people who have experienced the intervention. The aim is to convey primarily common experiences, both positive and negative, and to describe important effects that the intervention and the disease had on those people's lives.
At most six clips is the maximum envisaged for illustrating one review - if possible and appropriate, two positive experiences, two 'neutral' ones with neither positive nor negative elements, and two negative experiences. The clips are introduced with a preamble stressing that they are only illustrations and should in no sense be interpreted quantitatively.

Results:The presentation will show examples for consideration by reviewers, CRG editors, the Consumer network and the Collaboration at large.

Conclusion:The Collaboration is invited to plan the future addition of illustrative narrative clips from patients or their carers to reviews, eg as hypertext, whenever possible.