Drug interactions are risk factors for the occurrence of adverse drug reactions. The risk for drug interactions includes factors related to prescription that are intrinsic to the patient. This study sought to evaluate the potential drug interactions in primary care prescriptions in Vitória da Conquista in the state of Bahia to fill the knowledge gap on this topic in Brazil. Information about several variables derived from the primary health care prescriptions was collected and drug interactions were evaluated based on information from Medscape and Micromedex(r) databases. Polypharmacy frequency and its association with the occurrence of drug interactions were also evaluated. Results revealed a 48,9% frequency of drug interactions, 74,9% of moderate or greater severity, 8,6% of prescriptions in polypharmacy that in the chi-square test showed a positive association with the occurrence of drug interactions (p < 0,001). Prescriptions from primary care in Vitória da Conquista in the state of Bahia showed a high frequency of drug interactions, however it is necessary to analyze other risk factors for their occurrence at this level of health care.
Drug interactions; Polypharmacy; Primary health care; Prescription quality
