Table 2.

Critical appraisal of study articles

Paper	Were the outcomes accurately measured?	Were the costs accurately measured?	Do incremental costs and outcomes differ between subgroups?	Are prophylaxis benefits worth the harm and costs?	Generalizability: could other patient populations expect similar outcomes?	Generalizability: could other patient populations expect to experience similar costs?
Allen et al. (2013)	Yes	Yes—data from literature, databases, reference costs	Yes	Equivocal (no benefit and no difference in cost)	Yes	Yes
Branch-Elliman et al. (2015)	Yes	Yes—data from literature, databases, reference costs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kamdeu Fansi et al.*** (2012)	Yes	Yes—data from a hospital, consumer price index, pharmacy Red Book	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Leal et al. (2016)	Yes	Yes—data from literature, Alberta pharmacy and infection control, laboratory services, consumer price index	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lenoir-Wijnkoop et al.*** (2014)	Yes	Yes—data from literature and local price lists	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shen et al. (2017)	Yes	Yes—data from literature, databases, consumer price index	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vermeersch et al.*** (2018)	Yes	Yes—data from literature, databases, consumer price index	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

NR = not reported.

*** Industry-sponsored study

Modified from the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tool for Economic Evaluations (Gomersall et al.)¹⁰