Forest health assessment is currently a hot research issue both at home and abroad, for the evaluations of forest conditions and forest resource management. However, there are various forest health evaluation index standards in use. The paper analyzes the types and frequencies of forest health evaluation indexes based on a literature review. Results show that the indexes used abroad are mainly related with the inherent characteristics of forest ecosystems, while, the indexes used in China cover both natural and socioeconomic aspects and are much more numerous as compared to those in international uses. Some evaluation indexes are not workable and their definitions are not very clear. A uniform and standard forest health evaluation index system should be developed, and the corresponding thresholds can vary with different regions, forest management objectives and forest types. This study provides a reference for the development of a forest health evaluation index system in China.