ABSTRACT:
Background: Hypertension cases in Indonesia were recorded at 34.1%. South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, has a prevalence of hypertension with complications (5.3%) and is ranked 5th in causes of death. Hypertension cases continued to increase until October 2023, with 113,473 cases recorded spread across 26 community health centers, including the Gadang Hanyar Community Health Center, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. This is due to the increasing proportion of individuals taking several drugs at once. The use of a number of these drugs is a rational and necessary therapy. However, it is often associated with irrational drug use, which is a risk factor for drug interactions. Currently, 44% of men and 57% of women with geriatric hypertension take five or more medications every week, which can increase medication intake resulting in higher morbidity and mortality. This study aims to conduct an analysis of the relationship between the incidence of polypharmacy prescriptions and potential drug interactions in geriatric hypertension patients using a more systematic approach, namely by identifying potential drug interactions based on severity, mechanism and level of significance. Materials and Methods: Prescription data was collected retrospectively using observational descriptive analysis with cross-sectional methods. The population was 596 from prescription data for geriatric hypertensive patients in October - December 2023. Sample calculations used the Slovin Formula, resulting in 240 samples. Result: Of the 240 prescriptions studied, there were 48.33% (116 prescriptions) of minor polypharmacy types and 51.67% (124 prescriptions) of major polypharmacy types and there was the potential for drug interactions for geriatric hypertension patients as many as 158 prescriptions (65.83%) and There was no potential for drug interactions in 82 prescriptions (34.17%). The results of the Chi - Square test analysis between the incidence of polypharmacy prescriptions and the potential for drug interactions in geriatric hypertension patients showed that there was a significant relationship between the two variables as indicated by a p - value of 0.000 < 0.05. Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between the results of the incidence of polypharmacy prescriptions and the results of potential drug interactions in geriatric hypertension patients. This shows that the role of health workers is very important, one of which is pharmacists in managing drug interactions. For this reason, it is very necessary for a pharmacist to play a big role in preventing bad effects that may occur due to drug interactions.