Introduction: The physiological aging can bring decline of physical and cognitive capacities of the elderly. This decline may influence the ability of the elderly to remain stable because postural control encompasses complex motor tasks involving the interaction between musculoskeletal components and information on the visual, vestibular and proprioceptive system. In addition, studies indicate that when the individual is placed in front of multiple tasks, his attention demand increases and it becomes more difficult to maintain the balance. Thus, the present study emphasizes the importance of performing an early diagnosis of balance disturbs, which may or may not be associated with cognitive impairment, in order to perform future interventions, improving the quality of life of the elderly. Objective: to identify the elderly profile in a nursing home residents and to analyze the association between cognitive impairment and balance disturbs. Materials and methods: cross-sectional study, based on data from 80 medical records of elderly nursing home in Bragança Paulista -SP. The cognition function was measured by mini mental state examination (MMSE) and the balance was assessed by reactive postural muscle synergies movements and Romberg test. To analyze the association was carried out by qui-square test with p ≤ 0,05 and a descriptive analysis using SPSS 22.0. Conclusions: The present study identified the functional profile of elderly residents in a nursing home, not being observed association between cognitive impairment and balance disturbs.