Objective: The objective was to detect the prevalence of insomnia and hypnotic use in institutionalized elderly persons. Material and methods: A group of 151 elderly residents of a continued-care institution was interviewed by means of a structured questionnaire. All the persons gave their informed consent. Demographic data are summarized by descriptive statistics and analyzed by means of Student's t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's chi-square and correlation analysis. Statistical significance was declared at a p-value of <0.05. There was a cross-sectional study. Results: There were 17% with sleep initiation and 15% with sleep maintenance and 15% with earlier wake up disorders, three times a week or more. There was observed a positive and significant correlation between age and residence time (r = 0.29, p < 0.001, n = 147); sleep initiation and maintenance disorders indisposition periods (r = 0.99, p < 0.001, n = 18); sleep initiation and earlier wake up disorders indisposition periods (r = 0.99, p < 0.001, n = 15), and sleep maintenance and earlier wake up disorders indisposition periods (r = 1.00, p < 0.001, n = 14). The use of hypnotic was observed in 12%, with prescription of physicians in 97.5%. The use was more frequent in women (p = 0.002). The age didn't influenced the use of hypnotic along the life (p = 0.50). Only 10% used alternative habits to sleep better, like baths (60%), only or combined. Conclusion: The prevalence of insomnia and hypnotic use in institutionalized elderly persons was different from the general population. 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