Avalia？？o do impacto da polimedica？？o nas verbas de internamento nas unidades de longa dura？？o e manuten？？o

context: the financial situation of welfare states obliges them to undertake a careful analysis and reflection of the whole field of health to ensure that their sustainability is possible. in portugal there is, as elsewhere in europe, a progressive aging of the population, a consequence of increased life expectancy and low birth rate. objectives: to evaluate the impact of polypharmacy in daily sums charged to a long-term care and maintenance unit. method: this was an exploratory case study with 65 users admitted to the long-term care and maintenance unit - dona elvira da camara lopes of santa casa da misericórdia da póvoa de lanhoso. results: there is major polypharmacy in this population, including an average of six prescription drugs per patient. calculation, based on a daily allowance of 10 eur, gives a high percentage impact of 37% on the budget allocated by the state. conclusion: it is necessary to understand prescribing patterns in other contexts as well as to ascertain the reasons/motives that lead to prescribing more than one drug.