Objective  To compare indicator systems for public health emergency management assessment applied in first-tier cities in China.

  Methods  From China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform (WANFANG DATA) and VIP database, we comprehensively and systematically searched literatures on indicator system for public health emergency management assessment in 4 first-tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen) published from January 1988 through March 2019. The retrieved literatures were screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria with NoteExpress and the literatures were processed with NVivo 12.0 and framework integration method. The extracted information from the literatures were analyzed qualitatively in line with the four types of administrative agencies in public health emergency management.

  Results  The study finally included 6 literatures. In the indicator systems applied in the four cities, there were 8 common indicators for the government and administrative agencies, 10 for disease prevention and control institutions, 4 for medical institutions, and 5 for public health inspection institutes, respectively. There were more specific indicators for the assessment systems applied in the four cities.

  Conclusion  For the public health emergency management assessment indicator systems, the unification and guiding characteristics of the common indicators should be reinforced; the compatibility and associativity of specific indicators need to be improved; and the applicability of the indicator system should be promoted.