The PRIME project: developing a patient evidence-base.

Background: The concept of evidence has become firmly rooted in health care, with most importance placed on the outcome of research in clinical and economic spheres. Much less emphasis is placed on the patient's contribution to evidence which remains relatively vague, of low status and often difficult to integrate with other forms of knowledge.

Aim: This article proposes a concept of patient-based evidence, to complement clinical and economic forms of evidence, and demonstrates one way in which it has been operationalized.