Just one in 30 Indigenous patients with likely alcohol dependency are prescribed medication for relapse prevention, according to Australian-first research.

The year-long study involving some 53,000 First Nations patients aged 15 and over suggests 1.6% are classified ‘likely dependent’ based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test — Consumption (AUDIT-C).

Yet only a “very small proportion” of these individuals — 3.4% — received a prescription for naltrexone, acamprosate and/or disulfiram, the University of Sydney–led team reported in Drug and Alcohol Review.

This low rate may be due to a combination of factors, including under-detection of dependence, GPs not offering the therapy to eligible patients or patients declining treatment, the researchers said.