Burden of Disease Studies in the Asia-Pacific Region: Are There Enough being Performed to Provide Information for Evidence-Based Health Policy?

AbstractObjectiveTo review published studies of Burden of Disease (BOD) performed in the Asia-Pacific (AP) region.MethodOverlapping strategy of searching four electronic databases was used to identify studies of BOD published during 1993-2009. The quality of identified studies was assessed according to the categories of burden reflected and scope of BOD information included. Chronological and regional distributions of research output were analyzed.ResultsAmong 524 articles identified for review, 27.7% (n=145) were classified as complete summary measures as being most informative BOD studies from health policy maker’s perspective and 72.3% (n=379) as using only partial measures. Although an increasing trend of publication of BOD articles was observed, the quantity of publication was not commensurate with the number of diseases, especially for researches using summary measures. Unbalance of research output of BOD among different diseases areas and selected countries/regions was observed.ConclusionThe paucity of specific studies in AP region needs to be addressed. Furthermore, in order to improve the quality of research, a clear definition of BOD study and a uniform template for the research method from health policy-makers’ perspective would be necessary