The increasing deteriorative trend of doctor-patient relationship (DPR) have destroyed patient safety, doctor safety and social stability in China. DPR is a complicated social problem related to multidisciplinary and multi-factor interactions. A series of researches providing different views on how to improve DPR in China have been published in recently years. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) aims to deal with massive information by producing, synthesizing and disseminating evidence from complex interventions. We tried to explore the trait of DPR by EBM methods. We provided evidence on research trends, topics and methods by systematic database retrieval, classification by screening, and quality assessment. Through dissection, attribution, and visualization of interactions and relationships between factors, we provided an evidence-supported framework for improvement of DPR. We identified gaps, defects or deficiencies in existing research, and promoted further research. We continued to follow up the research and faced a challenge: Reflection and frustration in the process of establishing the quality evaluation system of qualitative research. We found that the study of complex humanities and social sciences by reference to evidence-based methodology might be: providing a structured, panoramic perspective for complex social problems on " de-fragmentation”, providing a framework for social governance through classification and hierarchy, and calling for a more tolerant attitude and more comprehensive application of methodologies.