ArticleAlcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)2024
Alcohol pharmacotherapy dispensing trends in Australia between 2006 and 2023.
Article in Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Discontinuation of medications for alcohol use disorder in the United States: Patient, prescriber and medication predictors.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Observational
- Alcohol use disorder: an Australian perspective on screening, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.Internal medicine journal · 2026Review
- The Safety of Alcohol Pharmacotherapies in Pregnancy: A Scoping Review of Human and Animal Research.CNS drugs · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
aimsThis study aimed to investigate acamprosate and naltrexone dispensing patterns in Australia.
methodsA 10% representative sample of medications subsidized by the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) was used to identify individuals who were dispensed naltrexone or acamprosate between January 2006 and December 2023. Data were used to examine concurrent dispensing, medication switching and treatment episode length, as well as changes in prevalence and incidence over time.
resultsDuring the study, we identified 22 745 individuals with a total of 117 548 dispensed prescriptions (45.3% naltrexone, 43.0% acamprosate, and 11.7% concurrent dispensing). Alcohol pharmacotherapy dispensing occurred in 1354 per 100 000 individuals. It is estimated that 2.9% of individuals with an alcohol use disorder in Australia are receiving a PBS-listed pharmacological treatment. For both pharmacotherapies, individuals were most likely to be male (60.0%) and 35-54 years of age (56.0%). Individuals were more likely to switch from acamprosate to naltrexone rather than the reverse. From 2006 and 2023, the number of prevalent individuals treated with an alcohol pharmacotherapy significantly increased, driven mainly the use of naltrexone, which more than doubled over the study period. Incident naltrexone-treated individuals were more likely to remain on treatment for the recommended minimum 3-month period compared to acamprosate treated individuals, although overall dispensing for at least 3 months was low (5.1%).
conclusionsIn Australia between 2006 and 2023, rates of naltrexone dispensing have substantially increased, while acamprosate dispensing showed minimal changes. However, the use of alcohol pharmacotherapies remains low compared with the likely prevalence of alcohol use disorders.
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