Occupational health outcomes of work in the gig economy: a systematic review protocol

The gig economy is a promising arena to reduce unemployment and provide other benefits such as the opportunity to earn supplemental income. Like all other forms of work, the gig space also presents occupational health issues for those working in it. This proposed review is aimed at identifying and describing the common occupational health outcomes reported within this workforce; second, to examine the risk factors that contribute to the development of these health issues; and third, to assess the interventions and support systems currently in place to promote the occupational health of gig workers.

A systematic review will be undertaken according to the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Statement (2009). A search from 2015 to 2025 will be conducted on four global databases (Web of Science, SCOPUS, Academic Source Complete and Business Source Complete). Only records in English, full text and peer-reviewed journal articles will be included. Book chapters, thesis, reports and systematic reviews will be excluded. The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools will be used to assess the methodological rigour of various studies prior to inclusion for the final analysis. The extracted data will be synthesised using a narrative synthesis approach, integrating findings from both quantitative and qualitative studies.

This research is exempt from ethics approval because the work will be carried out on published documents. We will disseminate this protocol in a related peer-reviewed journal.

CRD420250654059.