{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T05:13:17Z","timestamp":1787029997339,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,18]],"date-time":"2025-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758153600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"TDR","award":["TDR.HQTDR 2422924-4.1-72863"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TDR.HQTDR 2422924-4.1-72863"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Operational research (OR) published in 2023 revealed low utilisation and suboptimal quality of blood culture services at a tertiary hospital in Ghana. To address these, several interventions were implemented, including sensitisation of physicians, training of laboratory staff, use of automated incubation systems, and improved availability of laboratory consumables. To assess the impact of these interventions, we conducted a follow-up study in a cross-section of inpatients (n = 1080) with suspected bloodstream infections (BSI) admitted in 2024. There were three key changes. First, there was a five-fold increase in requests for blood culture from 8% pre-OR to 40% post-OR. Culture requests were more frequent from child health department (63%) and intensive care units (53%) compared to surgery department (15%). Second, there was a reduction in delays: time from hospital admission to culture request was reduced from 2 days to 1 day, and the laboratory turn-around time was reduced from 7 days to 5 days. Third, there was a marginal improvement (p = 0.692) in the quality of blood cultures: diagnostic yield improved from 7% to 10%, and the contamination rate was reduced from 16% to 14%. Achieving universal culture utilisation among eligible patients and lowering contamination rates will require a detailed gap analysis and targeted interventions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed10090270","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,18]],"date-time":"2025-09-18T12:24:25Z","timestamp":1758198265000},"page":"270","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Improved Utilisation and Quality of Blood Culture Services Following Operational Research in a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-0746-3134","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rita","family":"Sewornu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory Department, Ho Teaching Hospital, Ho P.O. Box MA 374, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9605-6791","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emily","family":"Boakye-Yiadom","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory Department, Ho Teaching Hospital, Ho P.O. Box MA 374, Ghana"},{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho P.O. Box PMB 31, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8460-0868","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emmanuel","family":"Ativi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory Department, Ho Teaching Hospital, Ho P.O. Box MA 374, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Precious Kwablah","family":"Kwadzokpui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory Department, Ho Teaching Hospital, Ho P.O. Box MA 374, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bismark","family":"Senahey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory Department, Ho Teaching Hospital, Ho P.O. Box MA 374, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0226-5056","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Helena","family":"Owusu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Department, Family Health, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra P.O. Box KB 77, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5257-5074","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pruthu","family":"Thekkur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Operational Research, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), 2 Rue Jean Lantier, 75001 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1011-8531","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ajay M. V.","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Operational Research, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), 2 Rue Jean Lantier, 75001 Paris, France"},{"name":"Centre for Operational Research, The Union South-East Asia Office, C6, Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi 110016, India"},{"name":"Department of Community Medicine, Yenepoya Medical College, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University), Mangalore 575018, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4369-8245","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cornelius C.","family":"Dodoo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, School of Pharmacy, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho P.O. Box PMB 31, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Seni, J., Mwakyoma, A.A., Mashuda, F., Marando, R., Ahmed, M., DeVinney, R., Pitout, J.D.D., and Mshana, S.E. (2019). Deciphering risk factors for blood stream infections, bacteria species and antimicrobial resistance profiles among children under five years of age in North-Western Tanzania: A multicentre study in a cascade of referral health care system. BMC Pediatr., 19.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12887-019-1411-0"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"653","DOI":"10.1128\/microbiolspec.DMIH2-0031-2016","article-title":"Bloodstream Infections","volume":"4","author":"Martinez","year":"2016","journal-title":"Microbiol. 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