title: Literature review and analysis of the development of health outcomes assessment instruments in Chinese medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the development of health outcomes assessment instruments in Chinese medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  A comprehensive literature search for all published articles in China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chongqing VIP Database and WANFANG Data was conducted. The studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to extract information according to a predesigned assessment instrument.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 97 instruments for health outcome assessment in Chinese medicine were identified. Of these questionnaires, 7 were generic, 12 were condition-specific and 78 were disease-specific. All instruments were suitable for adults, children, and both men and women. These instruments aimed to evaluate the health-related quality of life, signs and symptoms as well as patient satisfaction and doctor-reported outcome. However, the descriptions were poorly constructed for some of the most basic parameters, such as the domains and items, administrative mode, response options, memory recall periods, burden evaluation, format, copyright, content validity, and other properties.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The instrument development for health outcomes assessment in Chinese medicine is increasing rapidly; however, there are many limitations in current methodologies and standards, and further studies are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Spleen-Stomach Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Province, China. liufb163@163.com
authors.forename: Feng-bin
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zheng-kun
authors.initials: ZK
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Yun-ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zheng-zheng
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Hong Thach
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
mesh_terms: D001635:Bibliography of Medicine; D002681:China; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*