Implementation of the Canadian syncope pathway: a pilot non-randomized stepped wedge trial

Background We developed the Canadian Syncope Pathway (CSP) based on the Canadian Syncope Risk Score (CSRS) to aid emergency department (ED) syncope management. This pilot implementation study assessed patient inclusion, length of transition period, as well as process measures (engagement, reach, adoption, and fidelity) to prepare for multicenter implementation. Methods A non-randomized stepped wedge trial at two hospitals was conducted over a 7-month period. After 2–3 months in the control condition, the hospitals crossed over in a stepwise fashion to the intervention condition. Study participants were ED and non-ED physicians, or their delegates, and patients (aged ≥ 18 years) with syncope. We aimed to analyze patient characteristics, ED management including disposition decision, and CSRS recommendations application for all eligible patients during the intervention period. Our targets were 95% inclusion rate, 70% adoption (proportion of physicians who applied the pathway), 60% reach (intervention applied to eligible patients) and 70% fidelity (appropriate recommendations application) for all eligible patients. Clinical Trials registration NCT04790058. Results 1002 eligible patients (mean age 56.6 years; 51.0% males) were included: 349 patients during the control and 653 patients during the intervention period. Physician engagement varied from 39.7% to 97.1% for presentation at meetings. Process measures for the first month and the end of the intervention were: adoption 70.7% (58/82) and 84.4% (103/122), reach 67.5% (108/160) and 55.0% (359/653), fidelity among patients with physician data form completion 86.3% (88/102) and 88.3% (294/333), versus fidelity among all eligible patients 83.8% (134/160) and 83.3% (544/653) respectively with no significant differences in fidelity at one month and the end of the intervention period. Conclusion In this pilot study, we achieved all prespecified benchmarks for proceeding to the multicenter CSP implementation except reach. Our results indicate a 1-month transition period will be adequate though regular reminders will be needed during full-scale implementation.