OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to review published Burden of Disease (BOD) studies performed in 12 selected countries and economic entities in the Asia-Pacific (AP) region since 1993, when the first Global Burden of Disease (GBD) report appeared. METHODS: Electronic databases and bibliographic searching techniques were utilized. Four databases, Medline, EMBASE, EconLit and Cochrane Database, were involved in the primary search from 1993-2008. Titles and abstracts were reviewed using predefined criteria to select potential articles for further review. Relevant BOD studies were classified into three levels (Levels I, II and III) from least to most informative for evidence-based health policy decision according to the inclusion of the number of the three elements, namely, the epidemiology, humanistic and economic burden of the disease, which are normally involved in the measurement of BOD. RESULTS: From 1245 retrieved references, 419 articles were selected for review; of which 308 were classified as Level I as being least informative BOD studies from health policy maker's perspective. In the remaining 108 articles classified as level II, 74 of them were cost-of-illness (COI) studies and 34 of them adopted the summary indicators including disability-adjusted life year (DALY). Only 3 articles estimated the BOD with all three elements and were classified at Level III as most informative BOD studies. Among the 74 COI studies covering 41 diseases, 45 of them considered the indirect costs in addition to direct costs, with only one estimated intangible costs in monetary value. An unbalance of BOD research output among selected countries was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Estimating BOD comprehensively is a complex task and the paucity of specific studies in AP region needs to be addressed. In order to improve the quality of research, a clear definition of BOD study from health policy makers' perspective would be necessary.