Table 2.
Comparison of Clinical and Blood Culture Characteristics for Children With Blood Cultures Taken and Antibiotics Started, 2008–2013
| 2008–2009 | 2011–2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | Probability | |
| Cases via the emergency department | 1598 | 2350 | |||
| Clinical diagnosis (ICD-9) | 0.462a | ||||
| Noninfectious | 669 | 41.9 | 1028 | 43.7 | |
| Infection, bacterial | 547 | 34.2 | 790 | 33.6 | |
| Infection, nonbacterial | 382 | 23.9 | 532 | 22.6 | |
| Age group | |||||
| Newborn (0–28 d) | 239 | 15.0 | 243 | 10.3 | <0.001a |
| Infant (29 d–11 mo) | 342 | 21.4 | 430 | 18.3 | |
| Toddler (12–35 mo) | 278 | 17.4 | 377 | 16.0 | |
| Preschool (3–5 y) | 179 | 11.2 | 260 | 11.1 | |
| School age (6–12 y) | 337 | 21.1 | 607 | 25.8 | |
| Teen/adult (≥13 y) | 223 | 14.0 | 433 | 18.4 | |
| Length of stay (d) | |||||
| Median | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.143b | ||
| Average | 2.95 | 3.07 | 0.034c | ||
| No. of blood cultures before antibiotics | <0.001a | ||||
| 1 | 1,401 | 87.7 | 282 | 12.0 | |
| ≥2 | 197 | 12.3 | 2068 | 88.0 | |
| Result of blood cultures in each case | <0.001a | ||||
| Absolute pathogen ≥1 | 29 | 1.8 | 70 | 3.0 | |
| Possible pathogens | 30 | 1.9 | 101 | 4.3 | |
| Common contaminants | 36 | 2.3 | 90 | 3.8 | |
| All no growth | 1503 | 94.1 | 2089 | 88.9 | |
| Antibiotic outcome (excluding inconclusive) | <0.001a,d | ||||
| Continue antibiotics (appropriate) | 451 | 28.2 | 627 | 26.7 | |
| Modify antibiotics | 433 | 27.1 | 689 | 29.3 | |
| Discontinue antibiotics | 182 | 11.4 | 201 | 8.6 | |
| Continue antibiotics (inappropriate) | 52 | 3.3 | 10 | 0.4 | |
Abbreviation: ICD-9, International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision.
aChi-square test.
bMann-Whitney test.
cStudent t test.
dInconclusives excluded (2008–2009: n = 385, 25.6%; 2011–2013: n = 562, 26.9%).