OBJECTIVES: While overall use of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) measures has increased dramatically globally in the past 10 years, the inclusion of PRO data in controlled trials are still in its naissance, especially in the larger Asian region. PRO measures are still generally observed as a means of arriving at the current paragon of measuring the worth of a treatment - its cost-effectiveness. As the global trend in healthcare moves rapidly towards patient-centered medicine, it will become increasingly important to focus sincerely on accurate and systematic data capture in this realm. The current study seeks to track the use of PROs in clinical and controlled trials in Asia to summarize the current trends in utilization of standardized and non-standardized PRO instruments to pave the way for future investigation in systematically collecting this data alongside clinical data.

METHODS: A search strategy that includes terms to screen for prospective Asian clinical and controlled trials that have used survey instruments to measure PROs. The literature review will be conducted using databases like MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Library and Asian registries and will be organized according to country population, sub-disease, standardized PROs used, outcome type, and purpose of study.

RESULTS: A total of 179 studies were identified and further screened to 130 in the past 10 years by eliminating studies that were focusing on Asian patients in the Western world. Of these, 41 were based in China, 29 in Japan, 16 in Korea, 13 in India, and the rest in other South East Asian countries. The preliminary results show that the focus of PROs is mainly focused on cancer therapies, major psychoses such as Alzheimer's and schizophrenia, or degenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease.

CONCLUSIONS: Secondary analysis will confirm the above results, identify the most common PROs utilized, and the purpose behind this type of data capture.