Background: Prescribing errors are a risk factor for patients to present adverse events and a strategy that has been incorporated into medical care to reduce them is the use of computer tools. The objective was to obtain the scientific basis for the development of prescribing error alerts for four chronic diseases with a higher prevalence in population ≥ 65 years. Methods: We reviewed the literature from 2010 to 2015 to obtain information about adverse events and adverse drug reactions associated with the use of drugs for the treatment of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2), hypertension, osteoarticular diseases (OD) and depression; the review included these databases: PubMed, OVID, Cochrane Library, LILACS, MEDES, Portal Mayores and SIETES. A group of physicians reviewed and analyzed the papers that were identified and in a meeting they developed the alerts for the treatments used in the included diseases. Results: We obtained 76 papers, out of which 47 were analyzed by the group of physicians, who eliminated 18. With the remaining 29 were integrated 55 alerts: five for DM2, 16 for hypertension, 15 for OD and 19 for depression. Conclusion: The safety alerts that were developed mainly were drug-drug interactions and adverse reactions. Keywords: Aged; Security Measures; Drug Utilization; Primary Health Care.