OBJECTIVES: In a previous study we found a steep increase in the use of the term “patient-centered” in the published literature from <10 articles in the 1960s to >3000 in the 2010s. We also noted an increase in the proportion of articles in each decade reporting original research (17 vs 90%).  The objective of this study was to further examine the subset of articles reporting original research.  METHODS: We searched EMBASE for articles written in English between 1950-2013 with ‘patient-centered’ in the title or abstract. We selected a random sample of 10 articles within each decade and captured data from the title and abstract on the focus of the article (healthcare, research, or teaching). We selected those focused on research and extracted additional data on the study design, data collection methods, number of cases, comparator group, and statistics used.  We examined trends in these variables over time using tabular and graphical methods RESULTS: Our search identified 5051 publications, of which 2222 reported original research, from 1966-2013.  Articles in earlier decades tended to report qualitative research (>55%), whereas articles published since 2010 used more sophisticated study designs (>75%).  The majority of studies in all decades employed descriptive statistics; however multivariate methods were used in 25% of studies in the 2010s.  The use of a comparator group (16 vs 50%) and the average number of subjects (38 vs 687) also increased steadily over time. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to the increase in original research publications with “patient-centered” in the title or abstract over the last 50 years, we observed an increase in scientific and methodological rigor among these original research articles. These findings are consistent with the rise in personalized-medicine in the healthcare industry today, as well as the upsurge in the use of patient-reported outcome data that characterizes clinical research today.