Seda Ardahan Sevgili, Figen Yardımcı, Nihal Karadaş, Deniz Yılmaz Karapınar
The Journal of Pediatric Research - 2025;12(3):143-150
Aim: False positive blood cultures are one of the critical quality indicators in healthcare services and high rates cause severe quality problems. This study aimed to determine the rate of false positive peripheral blood cultures (FPPBC) and possible associated factors in children with leukaemia. Materials and Methods: A descriptive observational study was conducted with data from children hospitalised in the haematology oncology clinic of a children's hospital between March 2021 and March 2024. The results of those children who underwent peripheral blood cultures in routine care were collected using the "case report form" and "peripheral blood culture evaluation form-children" by analysing the electronic medical records. Results: In this study, 1,003 peripheral blood culture results from 100 patients were followed up. Of these, 90 (8.9%) were defined as positive blood cultures. Of these, 27 (2.69%) were FPPBC The most common contaminants were Staphylococcus epidermidis (n=31) and Staphylococcus hominis (n=6). The highest seasonal contamination rates were observed in winter (29.6%), and during the daytime shift (48.1%). Conclusion: The false positive peripheral blood culture rate was found to be within the optimal range in this study. It may be effective in reducing the contamination rates when infection controllers and educator nurses make the right interventions and provide training prepared in line with the guidelines. It should be highlighted that false positivity in peripheral blood culture collection is an important health and quality problem, and therefore, awareness-raising and training activities should be continued among nurses performing these collections.
