The clinical variables associated with isolation of oxacillin- and methicillin-resistant, coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) from blood cultures of hospitalized patients were studied. One hundred CNS strains (49 oxacillin-susceptible; 51 oxacillin-resistant) isolated consecutively from one of two or more sets of blood cultures were collected. Only two variables were independently associated with recovery of oxacillin/methicillin-resistant strains by a multivariate analysis: length of hospital stay > 10 days (OR 5.2, 95% CI = 1.7-15.7), and administration of antimicrobial agents in the previous 14 days (OR 4.5, 95% CI = 1.7-11.7). Analysis of the antibiotics administered indicated that only beta-lactams were associated with a statistically significant risk of resistance to oxacillin/methicillin (OR of beta-lactams vs no antibiotics = 6.94, 95% CI = 1.9-25.3; OR of non-beta-lactams vs no antibiotics = 2.64, 95% CI = 0.8-8.3). Length of hospital stay (especially > 10 days) and prior administration of antimicrobial agents (mainly beta-lactams) independently predicted the presence of oxacillin/methicillin-resistant CNS in blood cultures.