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This study aims to determine the risk factors associated with the bacterial contamination of blood cultures among adults visiting the emergency department (ED).

Clinical variables and medical records of adults with bacterial growth of blood cultures in the ED as well as the degree of ED crowding, between August 2007 and July 2008, were prospectively collected.

Of the 11 491 adults who underwent blood culture sampling, the medical records of 558 (4.86%) eligible patients with bacterial growth in their blood cultures were analyzed. Most patients (366, or 3.19%) had true bacteremia, whereas 192 (1.67%) were regarded as contaminated. In multivariate analyses, ED overcrowding (scoring was based on a National Emergency Department Overcrowding Study [NEDOCS] score ≥100 points) was independently associated with blood culture contamination (odds ratio [OR], 1.58; P …