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Background: The use of multiple medicines is very frequent among the elderly, allowing them to perceive more often adverse side effects from drugs and present undesirable drug interactions. Methods: This article presents a cross-sectional survey about the use of medicines among 300 elderly Brazilians, equally divided into institutionalized and community-dwelling groups. Results: The average daily intake of medicines is 3.2 among institutionalized elderly, a higher (p<0.001) number when compared with community-dwelling elderly, who takes an average of 1.8 medicines daily. The most commonly used medications are antihypertensives (58.0%), diuretics (23.0%), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (22.7%), supplements (21.7%), antidiabetics (16.3%), and antiulcerants (14.0%). Antiulcerants, diuretics, supplements, and central nervous system drugs are more frequently used by institutionalized than by community-dwelling elderly. Conclusion: In this Brazilian elderly sample, the most widely used medicines were antihypertensives, diuretics, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and institutionalized used more medications than community-dwelling elderly.