PROTOCOL: How Do Primary Care Providers Seek Advice Regarding Paediatric Care? Protocol for a Mixed Methods Systematic Review

Despite their central role, Primary Care Practitioners (PCPs) encounter numerous challenges in providing primary care for children. Complex factors spanning all levels of the health system contribute to variability in the quality of paediatric primary care. Contextually informed strategies addressing these factors can deliver positive change. These strategies recognise healthcare as a complex adaptive system and leverage the interconnectedness of the health system and communication networks of healthcare providers. Evidence describing advice-seeking practices of PCPs related to paediatric care is limited. This protocol outlines a mixed methods systematic review that aims to examine how primary care practitioners seek advice regarding paediatric care. The resulting review will synthesise the structures and characteristics of the social networks through which PCPs seek advice regarding paediatric care, how networks are measured, the benefits of these networks, and factors PCPs encounter when seeking advice. The review will be guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute Mixed Methods Systematic Review manual and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) statement. We will search English language publications in EMBASE, Ovid MEDLINE, and Web of Science. Relevant peer-reviewed articles published since 2013 will be included, encompassing randomised controlled trials (RCTs), non-RCTs, pre- and post-intervention studies, cross-sectional studies, qualitative studies, social network analysis, and mixed-methods studies. Data will be synthesised using a convergent integrated approach, transforming quantitative data into textual descriptions and aggregating where possible to produce integrated findings. PROSPERO Registration Number: CRD420251025798.