OBJECTIVES: The EQ-5D has been extensively used to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and utility across different health condition worldwide. The aim of this study was to systematically review studies using EQ-5D in the Brazilian population. METHODS: A structured literature search was conducted using free text words related to EQ-5D and Brazil in Pubmed and LILACS database. Original research studies that reported EQ-5D results among Brazilian patients or general population were included.  RESULTS: Of 23 identified papers (Pubmed=11, LILACS=12, 3 duplicate citations), 4 met the selection criteria, with one study reporting evidence on validity for stroke patients (Pinto 2011), one study reporting EQ-5D responses (index, VAS and self-classification) for caregivers of stroke patients (Carod-Artal 2009) and two publications of the same SF-6D study for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in which EQ-5D was used as a comparison measure (Campolina 2009 and 2010). All 3 studies reported EQ-5D index, 2 of them used the UK tariff and Carod-Artal 2009 did not inform the conversion method. Mean EQ-5D index scores were 0.65 (SD 0.3) for RA patients and 0.7 (SD 0.2) for caregivers of stroke patients. The study which applied EQ-5D to stroke patients did not report the mean scores, only correlation coefficients with stroke severity and impairment on daily living activities scales. EQ-5D showed good correlation with SF-6D in the RA study and with NIH Stroke Scale and modified Barthel Index in the stroke study. Adequate convergent validity between EQ-5D and Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview was observed among caregivers of stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS: Although the EQ-5D is the most widely used generic preference-based measure of health-related quality of life, studies reporting results for Brazilian samples are still scarce.  Normative reference data for the general population are not available in the published literature which makes interpreting disease-specific scores a complex task.