New evidence shows high antibiotic use in remote communities.

A study of antibiotic prescription rates for Aboriginal children in remote communities in the Northern Territory (NT) has identified high rates of infections and antibiotic use in these communities.

Antibiotic prescription data from electronic health records for children aged under two years old in three remote communities in the NT were found to be six times higher than those reported in other studies for non-Aboriginal children in urban areas.

“We found that by 12 months of age, 90 per cent of Aboriginal children in this study had received at least one antibiotic prescription. This is significantly higher than that reported in other studies for non-Aboriginal children. Treatment for otitis media alone, accounted for 30 per cent of prescriptions,” lead researcher Timothy Howarth said.

“Even though the rate of prescriptions is higher we also found that the tracking of prescriptions here is significantly better than the wider Australian community – 70 per cent of prescriptions had an indication recorded which could be tracked for appropriateness and two-thirds were considered appropriate.

“When comparing this to primary care data in wider Australia, only 25 per cent of prescriptions had an indication recorded, of which one-third were considered appropriate.”

Co-author and Menzies University senior research fellow, Dr Thérèse Kearns, says that it is critical to address the underlying determinants of health to reduce the burden of disease which underpins antibiotic prescription rates.

“A major strength of the study was the level of clinical information available within the electronic health record and that legislative requirements placed on nurses and Aboriginal Health Practitioners to supply and administer antibiotics was effective in limiting inappropriate antibiotic use in this setting,” Dr Kearns said.

“However, of concern are the high rates of infection requiring antibiotic prescription within the study group which speak to the urgent need to address the underlying determinants of health impacting this data.”

The full study is accessible here.