Ann Clin Microbiol 2021;24:1-9. Educational Intervention to Improve Blood Culture Indicators in a Secondary-Care Hospital
| Variable | Pre-intervention (n=9,064 bottles) | Post-intervention (n=9,154 bottles) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blood volume per bottle, mL (IQR) | 5.4 (4.1 – 6.5) | 7.1 (5.0 – 10.1) | <0.0001 |
| Blood volume per aerobic bottle, mL (IQR) | 5.3 (4.1 – 6.4) | 7.7 (5.4 – 10.2) | <0.0001 |
| Blood volume per anaerobic bottle, mL (IQR) | 5.5 (4.1 – 6.7) | 6.4 (4.7 – 9.9) | <0.0001 |
| Blood volume per bottle by laboratory technicians, mL (IQR) | 6.0 (4.5 – 7.7) | 8.6 (5.4 – 10.5) | <0.0001 |
| Blood volume per bottle by emergency medical technicians, mL (IQR) | 5.1 (4.0 – 6.0) | 6.3 (4.9 – 9.8) | <0.0001 |
| Rate of optimal blood volume* | 9.1% (157/1,725) | 37.8% (3,212/8,492) | <0.0001 |
| Positive rate | 9.6% (433/4,532) | 9.1% (415/4,577) | 0.4237 |
| Contamination rate | 0.5% (24/4,532) | 1.1% (50/4,577) | 0.0028 |
| Time to detection, hr (IQR) | 14.7 (11.1 – 22.6) | 13.2 (10.4 – 22.1) | 0.0420 |
| Time to identification, hr (IQR) | 81.6 (63.0 – 110.9) | 72.2 (63.2 – 102.9) | 0.0183 |
Number of bottles weighted by a scale was 1,725 during pre-intervention and 8,492 during post-intervention.
*Optimal blood volume is defined as 8 – 12 mL per bottle. Abbreviation: IQR, interquartile range.