UK General Practitioners Support E-Cigarettes for Smoking Cessation Despite Limited Knowledge

General practitioners across the United Kingdom demonstrate limited objective knowledge regarding e-cigarettes while simultaneously maintaining largely favorable views about their application as smoking cessation aids, according to a mixed-methods investigation published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine. Researchers evaluated family doctors through structured assessments and found an average score of 2.1 correct answers out of five knowledge questions. Despite these measured information deficits, eighty percent of surveyed practitioners agreed that e-cigarettes present less harm to health than conventional combustible cigarettes, reflecting a generally receptive professional stance toward electronic nicotine delivery devices within primary care.

The investigation arose within a national health policy environment where numerous healthcare organizations throughout the United Kingdom actively encourage general practitioners and allied clinical professionals to suggest e-cigarettes to patients seeking to quit smoking. To understand how primary care doctors navigate these institutional recommendations, investigators Melis Selamoglu, Deborah Robson, Jamie Brown, and Chris Barton designed the project to examine the specific intersection of general practitioners’ empirical knowledge, underlying beliefs, and stated intentions to recommend e-cigarettes to patients who smoke.

To capture both statistical patterns and contextual depth, the authors implemented a sequential mixed-methods research design that integrated quantitative questionnaires with qualitative individual interviews. The quantitative phase gathered survey responses to describe general practitioners’ knowledge levels, their personal and clinical beliefs, and their willingness to propose e-cigarettes as cessation tools. In addition, the research protocol systematically compared clinician recommendation rates across varying levels of self-reported confidence, while thematic analysis was applied to transcribe and interpret the qualitative interview transcripts.

The complete study sample comprised eighty-four completed survey questionnaires alongside seven in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with general practitioners practicing in the United Kingdom. Within the quantitative cohort, a clear majority of sixty percent reported being willing to recommend e-cigarettes to their patients to support smoking cessation efforts. However, the survey confirmed that overall baseline comprehension remained restricted, establishing a notable divergence between clinicians’ willingness to endorse the tools and their mastery of foundational factual concepts concerning e-cigarette products.

Statistical evaluations demonstrated that variations in clinician confidence levels exerted a decisive and statistically significant influence on general practitioners’ willingness to suggest e-cigarettes to smokers, yielding a probability value of p less than 0.001. Doctors who reported feeling confident in their level of knowledge about e-cigarettes proved substantially more motivated to recommend them as smoking cessation aids than colleagues who lacked such confidence, recording a recommendation rate of ninety-one percent compared to only forty-five percent among the non-confident group.

Thematic insights drawn from the seven qualitative interviews reinforced and expanded upon the quantitative survey measurements. General practitioners participating in the interview sessions expressed genuine optimism regarding the prospective therapeutic role of e-cigarettes as cessation aids, yet they repeatedly voiced feelings that their existing technical and medical understanding remained inadequate. Furthermore, interviewed clinicians reported mixed perceptions regarding the robustness of available clinical evidence supporting e-cigarette efficacy, observing that expanded research and more definitive clinical evidence are essential before doctors can comfortably and routinely endorse these devices in daily patient interactions.

In their final synthesis, the study authors emphasized that while general practitioners in this sample maintained predominantly positive perspectives toward e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, their underlying knowledge remained constrained and their interpersonal confidence in discussing and advising on the products varied widely. Because practitioners with higher confidence were much more engaged in recommending these options to patients, the researchers concluded that professional bodies must establish clearer clinical practice guidelines and deliver targeted clinical training programs that address device safety, comparative effectiveness, and practical clinical implementation in primary care medicine.

Subject of Research: General practitioners' knowledge, beliefs, and recommendations regarding e-cigarettes for smoking cessation

Article Title: Beliefs, knowledge and recommendations of general practitioners in the United Kingdom about e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids: a mixed-methods study

Article References: Selamoglu, M., Robson, D., Brown, J., & Barton, C. (2026). Beliefs, knowledge and recommendations of general practitioners in the United Kingdom about e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids: a mixed-methods study. BMC Pulmonary Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12890-026-04877-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12890-026-04877-w

Keywords: e-cigarettes, smoking cessation, general practitioners, primary care, United Kingdom healthcare, mixed-methods research, cessation aids, physician knowledge, practitioner beliefs, clinical recommendations, harm reduction perceptions, physician confidence, qualitative interviews, healthcare surveys, clinical guidelines, practitioner training, patient smoking cessation, BMC Pulmonary Medicine