General practitioner knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices surrounding the prescription of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation: protocol for a mixed-method systematic review

Background Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are being marketed to smokers as a smoking cessation aid. General Practitioners (GPs) have an important role in providing patients with support to encourage them to quit smoking. The emergence and marketing of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation alternative poses challenges to GPs in advising and supporting smokers to quit.

Aim This systematic review aims to synthesise available evidence on the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of GPs about e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid.

Design & Setting Mixed methods study review including quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods studies of GPs in primary care settings.

Method MEDLINE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, PsycINFO and EMBASE databases will be searched to identify articles published between 1/1/2003 and 30/6/2021. A Google search will be examined to identify grey literature. Two independent reviewers will screen abstracts for relevance and full-text studies. Articles will be appraised for quality using MMAT and a PRISMA diagram will illustrate the flow of papers and reasons for exclusion. An evidence synthesis method will be employed and guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. A descriptive qualitative synthesis of the findings will be reported.

Conclusion Findings will provide a synthesis of current evidence regarding the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid amongst GPs. This information will be useful to guide future research on the needs of GPs in advising and supporting patients to quit smoking, and develop health policy and guidelines on the role and place of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid.